The Catholic Herald, in addition to the article by the diligent Anna Arco, has an editioral about the older form of Mass and training of seminarians.
Shall we parse it in our Usual Way?
Training seminarians to serve the Church of the future
February 22, 2008
It now seems very likely that all seminaries will be required to teach students to celebrate the classical (“Tridentine”) form of the Roman Rite as well as the post-Vatican II Mass. A letter from the Vatican’s Ecclesia Dei commission says that the provision of instruction in both forms will be included in the long-awaited clarification of Pope Benedict’s Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum. This is very welcome news, for several reasons.
First, if Ecclesia Dei effectively orders seminaries [I don’t think that is quite the right way to put this. The Commission, I am sure, doesn’t want to "order" anything. Remember also that the Supreme Pontiff will issue clarifying document and this issue should be included.] to teach the extraordinary form, that should clear up once and for all any confusion about the Holy Father’s intention in issuing his Motu Proprio. [Right. I also think that his replacing the 1962 Good Friday prayer for Jews was a signal that he intends that this Missal be used.] The Pope believes that the Missal of Blessed Pope John Paul XXIII, while not the liturgical norm, is every bit as valid as the 1970 Missal containing the Novus Ordo usually celebrated in the vernacular. If young priests everywhere are to be trained to use the older liturgy, then the argument that Summorum Pontificum was intended to mollify a Lefebvrist rump is seen to be the nonsense that it always was. [Or that this is just for old people suffering from obtuse nostalgia.]
Second, and irrespective of the fine print of the Motu Proprio, the Mass of the 1962 Missal, codified in 1570 but drawing on much more ancient patterns of worship, is a glorious thing in itself. [Yes! Before and after the MP was issued I hammered the point that, aside from the practical benefits, derestricting the older form of Mass was simply the right thing to do.] To deprive seminarians of the opportunity to learn to celebrate it is to alienate them from a wonderful aspect of their heritage. [to which they have a right.] Likewise, it is only fitting that priests learn to celebrate the Hippolytan canon that forms the basis of the modern Second Eucharistic Prayer: that, too, is part of their heritage. [This would, perhaps, apply to seminarians in traditionalist seminaries,… perhaps.]
Third, as we report today, several seminaries of the Church in England and Wales have signified their readiness to provide the necessary instruction. One might imagine that they had no choice in the matter; but opponents of Summorum Pontificum are great exploiters of loopholes, and it is a relief to learn that some seminary rectors are not prepared to waste their energies trying to sidestep any new requirement. Like many Catholics, they have reassessed their attitude towards the classical form of the Roman Rite; they are looking forward to the challenge of teaching seminarians to celebrate this most beautiful and numinous of liturgies. [The tide has shifted.]
