Traditional Latin Mass

Easter Triduum

2010-03-06T10:34:00.005+08:00

From Rev. Fr. Jojo Zerrudo we learned and we are pleased to announce that Bishop Ongtioco of the Diocese of Cubao has graciously given his permission to the celebration of the Easter Triduum in the extraordinary form at the PLDM. The schedule will be at a most convenient time as follows: Maundy Thursday at 10:00 am; Good Friday at 10:00 am; and Easter Vigil at midnight. We join Fr. Zerrudo in inviting everybody to attend this momentous and holy event. Laus Deo!

Extraordinary Form in Jaleville, Parañaque

2010-03-01T12:52:00.010+08:00

Starting the 31st of January 2010, Septuagesima Sunday, the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite shall be offered in the Jaleville Chapel at 10 o'clock in the morning on the following dates:

1. Last Sunday of each month {January to December 2010}

2. 21st of March 2010 {Passion Sunday}
3. 23rd of May 2010 {Solemnity of Pentecost}
4. 13th of June 2010 {External Solemnity of the Sacred Heart}
5. 15th of August 2010 {Solemnity of the Assumption}
6. 3rd of October 2010 {External Solemnity of the Most Holy Rosary}

7. 18th of December 2010 {Rorate Mass Simbang Gabi} at 7 o'clock in the evening.

TOTAL of EIGHTEEN MASSES in the EXTRAORDINARY FORM

So far, these are the fixed dates for the celebration of the Extraordinary Form. Other dates may be added to this list, specially during the solemn seasons of Lent {with Passiontide} and Advent.

To confirm the time of the Mass, call and/or S.M.S.

Announcement

2009-09-14T15:20:00.018+08:00

The Traditional Latin Mass at the Shrine of St. Therese will have the following guest priests for its regular 9:30am Sunday High Mass:

September 27, 2009 – Rev. Fr. John Anthony, Superior of the Franciscan Friars Immaculate.

October 4, 2009 – Rev. Fr. Joseph Skelton.

We are seeking donors to cover for the stipends of the two guest priests. Please contact us via email or cellphone (09195064046). Thank you for your kind support.

There will be Traditional Latin Mass at the following parishes:

September 29, 2009 – 6:30pm by Rev. Fr. John Anthony at St. James the Great Parish in Ayala Alabang Village, Alabang, Muntinlupa.

October 3, 2009 – 8:30am by Rev. Fr. Joseph Skelton at Christ the King Parish in Greenmeadows.

We have reformatted some of the Training DVD’s which the FSSP provides free to priests and seminarians. Although reformatted, they are still large files. Those interested should have high speed internet connection DSL or cable. Contact us if interested.

Primer on Traditional Latin Mass

2009-08-23T11:08:00.002+08:00

The first thing people need to understand about the Traditional Latin Mass (or Tridentine) is that its emphasis is silent prayer and quiet reflection. This means that from the moment you walk into the church, you change all your actions from social to prayerful.

Movements should be reverent and slow. No talking please. Treat the Mass as if you were at the foot of Calvary, silently watching Jesus offer himself up to the Father as sacrifice for your sins. Because that is what the Mass is. Treat the Tabernacle as if you were being presented face-to-face with the Triune God in Heaven for the first time, because that is who is inside the Tabernacle. Christ said to Saint Gertrude: “One idle word in church is worth a hundred years in Purgatory.”

1. Dress as if you just died and were about to meet God face-to-face for the first time.

2. Men should never go to Mass in shorts or sleeveless shirts.

3. Women should dress modestly and feminine, and not in sleeveless, tank shirts, or minis.

4. Women should use veils as is traditional but not mandatory. To God, what is sacred must be veiled out of respect. A woman is a tabernacle of God’s creation. Ask one of the volunteers where you can purchase one if you wish.

5. The Gregorian chant is the traditional music for Latin texts in the worship of the Roman Catholic Church. The choir is well trained and is taught to sing to God and not to the people. The music should sound like heavenly background to prayer, not something that beats up the ears and distracts prayer.

6. Follow along with the mass in the Missal or a Latin-English booklet provided. The Propers of the Mass in Latin-English are in the insert also provided. In the Traditional Latin Mass, the greater part of the mass is said in Latin. The Kyrie Eleison is Greek and the Hebrew words are found in the words Alleluia, Amen and Hosanna.

7. The faithful can and should sing the liturgical responses found in the Latin-English Mass booklet provided. These are: Amen; Et cum spiritu tuo; Gloria tibi, Domine; Habemus ad Dominum; Dignum et justum est; Sed libera nos a malo; Deo gratias.

8. The faithful should learn to sing the Ordinary of the Mass: Kyrie, eleison; Gloria in excelsis Deo; Credo; Sanctus-Benedictus; Agnus Dei., particularly according to the simpler Gregorian melodies.

9. In most parts of the Traditional Latin Mass, the priest, who acts in persona Christi, prays to God facing the altar (facing the East towards Jerusalem) and only when he turns and faces the people does he speak to the people. This is the high priest (Christ) praying to the Father for the people. It is Christ offering His sacrifice for us, and we are there praying and thanking God.

10. Remember that people are there to pray, so do not fidget with your rosary or make sounds or movements that would distract others from prayer. Just use common Church etiquette, which means keeping silent.

11. When going to communion stay in line and go to the next space at the altar rail and kneel down and wait for the priest to come to you. If there is a communion cloth over the altar rail, put your hands under it. The priest will say, “Corpus Dómini nostri Jesu Christi custódiat ánimam tuam in vitam ætérnam. Amen” [“May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your soul unto everlasting life. Amen”]. There is no need to answer with “Amen.” Receive communion on the tongue, bow your head a moment and get up and go back to your pew. Remain kneeling until the priest starts the final prayers of the Mass.

12. After Mass, leave the church without talking because some people may remain inside praying and you would not want to interrupt God. After some distance from the front door, it is time to socialize and share your faith with others. If coffee or snack is available in the social hall, join the other parishioners and inquire how you could volunteer or donate. In the past everything was done at the church. Faith was shared and taught at the church. Socialization builds a parish but prayer builds faith.

Invitation

2009-08-04T12:53:00.002+08:00

YOU ARE INVITED

Participate in the Celebration

of the

Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

in the Traditional Latin Rite

every

4^th Saturday of the month at 11:00AM

with a Franciscan Friar as celebrant

at the

Divine Mercy Perpetual Adoration Chapel

of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate

19 Cebu Street, Alabang Hills Village, Muntinlupa City

Telephone 850-9293

Announcement

2009-07-16T12:31:00.003+08:00

The Traditional Latin Mass will be celebrated every Sunday, 9:30 AM, temporarily in the chapel of the National Shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, located in Villamor Air Base in Pasay City. The chapel is in the midst of the columbarium ["catacombs"] located under the main Church. Pasay City is the territory of the Archdiocse of Manila, but the air base is under the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines.

We pray for our priests

2009-07-05T11:26:00.003+08:00

A Message from the Organizing Committee

2009-06-30T19:49:00.006+08:00

Dear Friends,

I have a short announcement.

During today’s meeting, Fr. Grato announced that he was discontinuing the TLM at St. Jerome effective immediately. He did not mention anything about the controversy regarding communion in the hand, although I believe this is a contributing factor in his decision. Fr. Grato said he felt that TLM St. Jerome was like a “church within a church.” He expressed unhappiness with the present situation. He further said that he will be writing to the bishop to explain his action. He advised us to seek out other parishes in the diocese that may be willing to accommodate a regular celebration of the EF Mass.

Unless Bishop Mercado persuades Fr. Grato otherwise, this marks the end of my involvement with St. Jerome. This also highlights the importance of establishing a personal parish staffed by priests who will exclusively serve the needs of the TLM faithful, where Catholics attached to the TLM will truly feel at home and not be treated as second-class citizens who have to make way for Novus Ordo Masses. Having committed time and resources to TLM St. Jerome and seeing how quickly it evaporated, I am convinced that a TLM St. Jerome-type arrangement in other parishes in the diocese, although possible, is a short-term fix that will not fully address the needs of the TLM faithful and may in fact suffer the same fate of TLM St. Jerome. This type of arrangement surely cannot be our goal.

I am presently considering several options, as others are, and in due course will take the appropriate action. In the meantime I ask for everyone’s prayers. Let us pray that the EF Mass will one day find a permanent home in the diocese of Paranaque.

Sts. Peter and Paul, pray for us!

RICHARD M. FRIEND
Chairman, Organizing Committee
Traditional Latin Mass St. Jerome Emiliani

A Message from Fr. Z

2009-05-19T08:51:00.001+08:00

A Message from Fr. Z

I urge all priests and bishops who read this blog with any slight quaver of resonance or benevolence, to consider this with care:

If you sense that something quite serious and important is going on right now, for the love of God rethink your approach to how you foster Holy Church’s proper public worship.

Do all in your power and through your influence to foster a worship of God which conforms not to worldly goals – as praiseworthy as they may be in a world still dominated by its dire prince – but rather to the real point of religion: an encounter with mystery.

Our worship must become more and more focused on the one who is Other. Seek what is truly above in your rites and raise people to encounter mystery.

You will be challenged and reviled, blocked and attacked as you do. You will be worn down and afraid under the weight of resistance.

But I think that to save the world we must save the liturgy.

They can’t compete with the fullness of Catholic liturgy and sound preaching.

Reforming the liturgy along the lines Pope Benedict has proposed may be the most loving and effective option we have in these ever hotter times.

People will have to keep working very much in the sphere of the secular. Of course! Our inward Catholic Christian identity must find outward expression and bring concrete fruits.

But I think the real work now – where we will make some effective headway – must be done at the level of our public worship.

In the present circumstances, we are not going to argue most people out of danger or error. But together we can draw them in and along and back through worship.

So long as we remain doctrinally faithful and active in works of mercy both spiritual and especially temporal, if we get our public worship together we will have a strong bastion against error.

Holy Catholic worship will be an attractive force for conversion.

We need to foster worship which stuns, which leaves the newcomer, long-time practicing Catholic, above all the fallen-away simply thunder stuck. Worship must at some point leave people speechless in awe. We need language and music and gesture which in its beauty floods the mind with light even while it swells the heart to bursting.

The more people encounter mystery through liturgy, the more hollow will clang the false or incomplete messages of those who have strayed from the good path, either to the left or to the right.

Our goal must be that which is good and beautiful because it is true, that which reflects what is of God, not man’s image merely. Give us mystery, not fabrications smacking of the world, fallen and transitory.

Fathers, and you Reverend Bishops, if anything of alarm has sounded in your hearts and minds of late, rethink your approach to our worship. Examine your approach with an eye on the signs of the times. Take a new approach.

The approach we have had least last few decades isn’t getting it done. Really … it isn’t.

Going neither left nor right along the road toward the Lord, even as He comes to us, take the flock now deeper, now higher on that path, but always to encounter the mystery which distinguishes truly Catholic liturgy… and therefore true Catholics.

Lines are being drawn, sides taken, choices made.

More than ever we need what Christ, the true Actor of our liturgy, desires to offer us through Holy Church’s worship.

Palm Sunday Mass Announcement

2009-03-31T13:19:00.002+08:00

Our Palm Sunday 9:30 am Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) will be celebrated at the beautiful Oratory or Chapel of Elsie Gaches Villages which is under the care of the Sisters of Charity of St. Anne. This is across McDonald's along Alabang-Zapote Road before the stop light at Madrigal Avenue, Ayala Alabang. The guard will be advised of visitors coming for the TLM. Drive straight on the road past the guard until you come upon a steel gate enclosing a Spanish courtyard with a fountain. Oratory is inside. See you there!

Addressing some misconceptions on TLM

2009-03-19T10:19:00.001+08:00

The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest addresses some misconceptions:

The Classical/Traditional Latin Mass is not a product of the 16^th-century Council of Trent.

The history of the Traditional Latin Mass, whose latest version dates from 1962, traces back to the beginnings of Christianity. The Mass went through organic, gradual development throughout the centuries. The first written record of the Prayers of the Latin Mass is found in a 6^th-century manuscript (Leonine Sacramentary). The Roman Latin Mass was codified and made universal in the 16^th century by Pope St. Pius V because of the liturgical confusion then reigning. As this codification was part of the measures taken by the Council of Trent, the Traditional Latin Mass has often been called “Tridentine Mass.” After this, as before, small, incremental changes were made to the Missal (book containing texts and prayer for Mass) in the centuries following, the latest being made by Pope John XXIII in 1962. In 1969 Pope Paul VI promulgated a new Mass (Novus Ordo Missae) designed by an appointed committee, based on the Traditional Mass but with substantial changes to it, particularly in the Offertory prayers.

The Traditional Latin Mass was not changed or replaced by the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).

In fact, it was the Mass celebrated during the Council. A document produced by the Second Vatican Council (Sacrosanctum Concilium) outlined certain directives for changes to the Mass. Additional directives were given in post-conciliar documents. The new Mass (Novus Ordo) was crafted after the Council by a committee and promulgated in1969 by Pope Paul VI.

The priest facing the people was not a practice introduced by Second Vatican Council.

The orientation of the priest toward the East, with the people, symbolic of all facing God together toward the same direction, is millenary. It is the norm for the Traditional Latin Rite, and in this is shared by all the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church as well as by the Orthodox Church.

The custom of the priest facing the people, instead of East with the people, was gradually introduced as an experimentation by some members of the priesthood in the 20^th century. It became the unwritten practice in the Novus Ordo Mass, though there are no directives to do so in the documents issuing from the Second Vatican Council nor in the Missal of 1969. The first written mention in an official Church document of the possibility of a priest facing the people during Mass dates of the year 2000, in the General Instructions of the Roman Missal issued by the Vatican. (GIRM 299)

Mass in the vernacular (in English) was not introduced by the Second Vatican Council.

As stated above, the Novus Ordo Mass was not produced by the Second Vatican Council. In the Second Vatican Council document on the liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium), mention is made of the possibility of the Mass being translated to the vernacular. However, the Council also confirmed that the official language of the Catholic Church is Latin. Accordingly, the original language of the Novus Ordo Mass of 1969 is Latin, translations then being made from this original text.

http://www.institute-christ-king.org/ResourcesHome/Documents.htm

The Tridentine Mass

2009-03-18T10:32:00.003+08:00

The Tridentine Mass

By Mercedes B. Suleik

Business World - 3/18/09

Two Sundays ago, I had the extraordinary experience of going back to the past. I attended what is known as the Tridentine Mass, and it brought me back to the Masses I used to attend as a student in St. Theresa’s, oh those many years ago. Young people today — my daughters anyway — have never been exposed to this Mass, also known as the Latin or Roman rite, and have known only the liturgy promulgated by Pope Paul VI after Vatican Council II.

I learned about this Mass around the early part of this year, having seen a notice at St. Jerome’s Church in Alabang that a Tridentine Mass is celebrated every Sunday at 9:30 in the morning. This is not the usual time my husband and I go to Mass, and it was only really a sheer Lenten effort of will that I rose early, one Sunday, to hear Mass there as I have wished to, since I saw the notice. The term “Tridentine” is derived from the Latin word Tridentinus, which means “related to the city of Trent, Italy,” where the Council of Trent was held.

So what is the Tridentine Mass, and why is it no longer celebrated, or “offered” is the term we use today, at the same time that we no longer generally use “Mass” to refer to the Sacrifice, but rather we say, the “Liturgy of the Eucharist”? Had the Second Vatican Council abrogated the Latin Mass, which I understand was the Mass promulgated in 1570 by St. Pope Pius V according to a formula adopted in the Roman Missal, and made mandatory throughout the Western Church, and believed to be the rite “for all time”? Hence, when Pope Paul VI, after Vatican Council II (1962-1965) promulgated the present “ordinary” or normal form of the Roman Rite of the Mass, there was some consternation among the faithful, and even outright criticism and hostility.

Pope Paul VI promulgated the revised rite of the Mass with his Apostolic Constituion Missale Romanum on April 3, 1969, setting the first Sunday of Advent at the end of that year as the date on which it would enter into force. There were some significant changes from the previous edition of the Roman Missal, the most important of which, I believe, was the simplification of the liturgy, the proportion of the Bible being read at Mass being greatly increased, the introduction of a three-year cycle of readings on Sundays, and the addition of three alternative Eucharistic Prayers from the single Canon as well as the increase in the number of Prefaces. Also, most significantly, and which we have now gotten used to since 1969, the Mass today is said in the language of the people and the altar has been repositioned so that the priest celebrating the Eucharist now faces the congregation.

Of course there was confusion and a feeling akin to tectonic shifting among those who revered the old longer rite which was said in Latin, with the priest facing the altar and turning around to face the people only a few times. On the other hand, the changes were also welcomed because the old rite really provided no sense of participation among the people, and if you didn’t have a Missal (which usually had an English translation) so you could follow what was happening up there, some people simply said their devotions, such as the rosary during the Mass.

Criticism of the new rite included the comment that there was little reverence for the Mass, such as allegations that prayers and phrases clearly presenting the Mass as a Sacrifice have been substantially removed or reduced in number, that the number of genuflections and other gestures associated with reverence for the sacred elements have been reduced, that some phrases are ambiguous, and even that changes were made in order to make the Mass acceptable to non-Catholics. It has even been said that the liturgical changes and other changes that followed the Second Vatican Council had caused a loss of faith and a drop in attendance at Mass. Loss of faith is of course disputed, as both supporters and critics of the reform have their own polls to show — supporters ascribe the drop in attendance at Mass in the Western world to the decline in religiosity in the West.

My having attended the Tridentine Mass also brought me back to the time when Sunday Mass was really a day reserved for the Lord, and reverence was clear with women coming into Mass with veils (how come we don’t cover our heads anymore?), and receiving Holy Communion on one’s knees and by mouth. I realize that among the changes is receiving Communion in the hand (which I suppose is practical), but it seems to me that proper catechesis on how to do this is sadly lacking — I see communicants popping the host in their mouth and walking away even dusting off their hands; that in lining up to receive Communion to receive it standing up, some people are actually chatting on their way to the priest or lay person distributing the Host as if they were simply queuing up for tickets to a show.

However, I think that for the modern world, the reformed rite which has the congregation participating actively in the celebration of the Eucharist, is appropriate. For one, the faithful is aware of what is going on and in the current interactive environment our times are now used to, it ought to make the Sacrifice more meaningful and relevant to their lives. As long as it is not tainted with rituals and music that remove the solemnity of the Mass and attempt to copy non-Catholic practices to make it “more palatable” to a wider audience. And as long as there is sufficient teaching to ensure that proper reverence is given to the celebration of the Eucharist.

The Tridentine Mass, in all its solemnity, should be preserved. Aspirations of the faithful attached to the ancient form and the discovery by many young people and their attraction to it as a form of encounter with the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist is one good reason. For indeed, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has clarified and stressed in his Apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, that the two Roman Missals are “not two rites” but twofold uses of the one and the same rite.

merci.suleik@gmail.com

TLM St. Jerome Emiliani Responds

2009-03-16T14:55:00.011+08:00

Dear Ms. Suleik,

I read with great interest, and sadness, your observations regarding the Catholic Church today which I have also observed. I believe some devout Catholics feel the same way in their hearts but at the same time feel a little helpless with the existing situation. All is not lost, however. There is a “minority” within the Catholic Church that adheres to the traditional way of doing the mass as envisioned by Pope Benedict XVI: solemn, reverential, celestial.

Early last year, a trans-parochial group of parishioners approached the Parish Priest of St. Jerome Emiliani Parish in Alabang to request for the Traditional Latin Mass according to the 1962 missal. The Italian parish priest, Fr. Grato Germanetto CRS consented to the request in accordance with the Motu Propio of Pope Benedict XVI and informed his Bishop of his decision. June 29, 2008 saw the first Traditional Latin High Mass to be celebrated at St. Jerome to a large audience. It has been six months already and we are still growing in numbers every Sunday.

While I don't have any personal recollection of the traditional Latin Mass in my childhood, I discovered the rich tradition and beauty of the liturgy of Traditional Latin Mass. The ancient prayers are so profound, so beautiful and mysterious at the same time! I wondered why they shortened it so much in the New Mass (Novus Ordo). Boy, they are missing a lot! I’ve since learned how to follow the Mass sequence via the Latin-English missalette. I love watching the genuflections, the acts of reverence, the torch processions of altar servers, the ritual of the changing of the books from the Epistle to the Gospel side, the incensing, the beautiful Gregorian chant in four voices sung by a male choir (schola), listening and learning how to pronounce Latin, the silence. It's very uplifting, edifying. I feel my faith growing deeper with this kind of Mass.

There is so much to experience that I look forward to it every Sunday. Everyone inside the church is nearly quiet (except for small children) and the silence is heaven! People are busy praying or reading from their missal, or just simply watching what is going on in the altar. Oh, and I wear a dress (skirt) and a veil although not everyone does but there are quite a number of us who do and it's obvious who are the walk-ins or first timers by the way they dress. And the best part? We receive communion kneeling down and on the tongue. No one complains.

Six months ago, we (organizers) printed 500 copies of the missalette (Latin-English) and we are down to 24 copies and are re-printing another 500 copies. That's just to show you how interested devout Catholics are. TLM may not be for everyone yet but there is a growing number of Catholics who yearn for this kind of reverence, silence, and traditional liturgy. Truly, the Traditional Latin Mass is the “pambato” of the Catholic Church against the other churches like the Protestant because it has something they don’t have. Tradition as old as 2,000 years.

We invite you to come and experience the Traditional Latin Mass which happens every Sunday at 9:30 am at St. Jerome Parish in Alabang (except on Feb. 8 as it is the feast of the parish and so the Latin mass has to give way) and see for yourself that there is hope. There is hope because a group of parishioners aimed to make a difference and not wait for the Church to do its job. It's a lot of hard work and sacrifice but definitely worth it.

Thank you for your time and I hope many Catholics wake up to the real situation of the Catholic church today.

Sincerely,
Mary Elaine Friend
TLM St. Jerome Emiliani
Organizing Committee, Treasurer

What's with Filipino Catholics?

2009-01-29T11:49:00.014+08:00

We reprint, with permission, the interesting observations of our Faith by Mercedes B. Suleik of Business World:

It has been touted that the Philippines is a Christian country, and that 85% of the Filipinos are Roman Catholics. But I must ask, because of my observations in the parish church where I go to Mass, from what I see in the behavior of many officials in government who say they are Catholics and even ostentatiously have themselves photographed receiving Holy Communion, and even from daily encounters with colleagues and friends – how Catholics are we? How do we practice our faith?

Let me start with Sunday churchgoing. First, in the way churchgoers dress. Some of them are in attire better suited to the gym, or to evening parties, or plain lounging at home. When I was a girl, I remember my parents always dressed my brothers, sisters and me in what was really our “Sunday best”—properly ironed clothes, shoes and socks for all of us, veils for the girls – we were all going to the house of God. This is not what I see today in Catholic churches. I see people in slippers, sando, and shorts (especially on weekdays, as supposedly they come from morning jogging), women either in clothes better for nightclubs, or lease with straps of their bras showing! Worshippers in Protestant churches and even the Iglesia ni Kristo (I saw the latter on TV) are dressed so well – yes, in their Sunday best. Hotels and even certain restaurants and establishments require a dress code – they turn away improperly dressed individuals. What’s with us Catholics? Would we show up for an audience with the President of the country in such informal and extremely casual, even sweaty, attire? Holy Mass is an audience with God Himself!

Second, in the way we behave in church. You see people using their cellphones in the church, conversing (gossiping?), or failing to control their children from running around or making nuisance of themselves, or taking their siesta (some even snore!), strolling in so late or leaving even before the Mass ends (why do they bother to go?) – all these are dreadful distractions to those who wish to pray and pay attention to the Eucharistic celebration going on. Again, would these people behave so lackadaisically if they were in the presence of the President? In non-Catholic services, they participate by singing and joining in prayers – and their services even last for around two hours, while Catholic Masses, even with the homilies, last no more than an hour, indeed, 35 minutes during weekday masses (though, of course, we don’t see this outrageous behavior during weekday Masses)!

And in the matter of giving an offering, you could actually smile at how people pretend not to see the basket being passed, or drop in just a coin (don’t tell me these people who can easily spend for “loads” or a big Mac cannot give a share for the upkeep of the church). Other churches tithe (the Iglisia does. I remember a former colleague in my office who planned to join this cult, but changed her mind because they required her to submit a copy of her income tax return), and their members consider it their duty to contribute to their church (remember, God can never be outdone in generosity!).

I realize that the parish priest and his assistant (we have only two priests in our parish church) and could hardly give the proper instructions to all the parishioners, what with all their other duties. But since Vatican II, supposedly the lay people have a role in helping to explain and spread the faith. What happened, to my mind, is the creation of new levels of officialdom (dare I say officiousness?) – very important lay ministers and members of several lay organizations who are surrogates of the parish priest in “rank”: they have reserved seats in front (and if you ever attend Christmas novena Masses or services during Lent and Easter, or other church activities, you may not go those reserved seats). Why aren’t these surrogate ministers instead teaching parishioners how to behave in church? Can’t they quietly inform those who come in such unchurchlike attire (it’s not enough to flash a Power Point presentation of what is proper attire – how many actually pay attention to it?) to come properly dressed, advise those who are talking and using their cellphones while Mass is going on and parents whose children are marching up and down the newly upholstered kneelers, to be more mindful?

I shall not say anything about how our Catholic government officials and legislators and even academics in Catholic schools practice their faith at this time. Let me just say that it is extremely scandalous of them to be photographed (and have these pictures on front pages of newspapers) at Catholic Masses (and even receiving Holy Communion) when their behavior and statements are in conflict with the tenets of the Catholic faith. “I am a Catholic, but…” If they cannot uphold the teachings of their faith, why do they remain? My guess is that the other churches are even stricter, or should I say, simply strict. Perhaps they would not even be admitted.

I think it is about time that the Catholic Church imposes proper codes of behavior, say in unequivocal terms what is right and what is wrong, what is moral and what is not. It seems to me that the Catholic Church hierarchy has gone out of its way to make Catholicism so “easy” and most of our 85% Catholic population has become cafeteria Catholics, that is, choosing only what they like to believe in and how they should behave. This cafeteria Catholicism is what has bred corruption and dishonest behavior in many professed Catholics in government and business as they can always justify their behavior.

Catholics who adhere to the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church should not panic if critics accuse them of being overly scrupulous, of unquestioningly obeying the Holy Father, of being medieval. So what’s with us Filipino Catholics? This is a new year…should we not change?

Bishop Gregorio celebrates TLM

2009-01-21T19:18:00.007+08:00

Mass in the Extraordinary Form (Traditional Latin Mass) at St. Jerome Emiliani Church on January 18, 2009. This is the first public (regularly scheduled) Mass in the Extraordinary Form in the history of St. Jerome Emiliani church in the Diocese of Parañaque celebrated by a Bishop. Celebrant is His Excellency Bishop Camilo Gregorio of Batanes.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-19T08:55:00.006+08:00

A Blessed Christmas to all!

A Musician's Guide to the 1962 Missal

2008-11-11T09:10:00.000+08:00

Psallite Sapienter: A Musician's Guide to the Extraordinary Form

Get your own at Scribd or explore others: Religion Christianity music gregorian chant

Christ the King Mass

2008-11-05T19:28:00.005+08:00

Fr. Germanetto Grato, CRS, celebrated the Feast of Christ the King, October 26.

On this day, we pray for the for the conversion of all to Christ, and for all governments to recognize Him as King and conform their laws to His teachings. This is the only way to peace!

Why I want to remain a Catholic

2008-10-01T18:15:00.003+08:00

A sharing by: Helen F

I would like to go on living with and belonging to the Catholic faith because of the ideals and virtues that the Mother Church stands for, the consistency of the moral dogma and doctrines, the proven ability, despite the human faults of past and present generations, and because of the examples of martyrs who die for their faith.

Most of all, the Catholic faith is the one handed down by the person dearest to me, my mother, and the nuns of the schools where I studied in my youth which were the most memorable periods in my life.

I still remember how we, as Catholics, expressed our devotion to our religion in the past -before the electronic age and the explosion of information technology which created new value systems among Catholics and other faiths. I remember with nostalgia the formal way we heard mass, missal in hand, dressed for church, with veils over our heads, and perhaps our rosaries in our fingers. All these endeared me to our Catholic religion even if the mass was said in Latin (with the appropriate English translation in the missal.) Those bygone days when mass was celebrated and heard by the faithful, not on the run but with proper time set aside, are memories that made, and still make me, appreciate the Catholic faith.

The example set by my mother of hearing mass everyday in the province and of being a daily communicant instilled in me a strong attachment to our faith. My mother joined several parish activities in her prime before a series of physical disabilities slowed her down and finally incapacitated her. But even these events increased our devotion and attachment to our Catholic faith. We pray the rosary with our maids since my mother can no longer go to church, and thus we evangelized the maids in the process with the help of the lay ministers in the parish who attended to her on Sundays. She heard gospel readings and received communion. Thus, through her and our collective pain, we deepened our understanding of suffering in our Catholic faith. I felt it was God’s way of guiding us through our difficulties and trials.

My husband lives and thrives in the secular world. He has worked as a trial lawyer, corporate counsel and professional manager under stressful conditions. I know that he has never wavered from our Catholic faith. Our bedroom is littered with reading materials about religious history and astronomy. By studying the immensity of the universe, he says that he sees the face and power of God as Creator of our Universe.

I am happy and fulfilled to be a Catholic. My husband and I attend the Traditional Latin Mass that has recently been restored in a nearby parish and we have sponsored the priestly vestments of a young priest who is studying to celebrate the TLM. I do not wish for more except for God to hold us, my family, and all my dear ones in the palm of His Hand.

Implementing the Motu Proprio

2008-09-24T19:44:00.004+08:00

First, I want to begin with a note of thankfulness. We had our first Traditional Mass at St. Jerome Emiliani and Susanna Parish in Albang last June 29, 2008. The processional praise song I haven’t heard for 40 years, “Holy God We Praise Thy Name,” was a fitting reminder that the liturgy did not revolve around me and my feelings. Indeed, I owe God praise and worship which the song perfectly said for me.

I think Summorum Pontificum is a phenomenal step forward. It is true we may not have received a perfect document from the Holy Father but the long-awaited motu proprio gives every priest the right to celebrate the Mass using the 1962 Missal without the consent of a Bishop. It also instructs pastors to “willingly accept” requests from the faithful for access to the older liturgical form. The new canonical norms established by Pope Benedict took effect last September 14, 2007.

Addressing the Bishops of France on a pastoral visit recently, the Pope said:

“Liturgical worship is the supreme expression of priestly and episcopal life, and also of catechetical teaching. Your mission of sanctification of the faithful people, dear Brothers, is indispensable for the growth of the Church. I was prompted to detail, in the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, the conditions for the accomplishment of this mission, in that which relates to the possibility of using both the missal of Blessed John XXIII (1962) and that of Pope Paul VI (1970)…”

This is our Pope addressing the progressive Bishops of France to “tolerate” the existence of the Traditional Latin Mass as part of the Church’s mission of sanctification of the faithful. Why can’t they obey the Pope as they did before with Pope Paul VI’s Novus Ordo?

For one thing, the absence of the Traditional Mass the last forty years has created a generation or two of priests that are no longer familiar with Latin and cannot celebrate the Traditional Mass. And we’ve got an entire infrastructure in the Catholic Church that is accustomed to doing things a certain way, regardless of the necessary changes that are needed in the Church as seen by the Pope.

Even where celebration of the Traditional Mass is permitted, it is at times done so grudgingly, at inconvenient times and places, accompanied by unreasonable demands, and with very little if any means of financial or other support, either at the parochial or the diocesan level. For instance, I know of a parish priest who is very good and conscientious in all respects, except maybe for one. He tells me that a regularly scheduled Traditional Mass will simply not happen on his watch, and that his parishioners who want it are free to attend it somewhere. Typical of other pastors, he is not inclined to replace a Novus Ordo Mass with a Traditional Mass.

Not surprisingly, after one year of Summorum Pontificum, there are only a handful of (regularly scheduled) Traditional Mass in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Three, to be exact: One in Quezon City and another in Valenzuela, all celebrating at the inconvenient time of 1:30pm and 8:00pm respectively. The only public Traditional Mass being celebrated at a decent time of 9:30am every Sunday is at St. Jerome Emiliani at Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

Because there are only a few priests who can celebrate the Traditional Mass, I feel blessed that the Italian Priest of St. Jerome Emiliani and Susanna Parish, Fr. Grato Germanetto, CRS, is very supportive of the Traditional Mass. I have been active in promoting the Mass in St. Jerome Parish and our focus right now is the training of diocesan priests to celebrate the Traditional Mass. I know it is a short-term solution but until the Traditional Mass is taught in seminaries, it is necessary if we are to continue our weekly scheduled Mass.

It is not only a matter of training priests to do the Traditional Mass properly, but that of boys or men to assist the priest as altar servers. The reformed Roman Missal does not require a designated clerk for assistance; the classical Roman Missal does. The requirements for priestly vesture are also more elaborate in the classical form: cassocks, surplices, copes, chasubles, etcetera.

Since our parishioners prefer a High Mass every Sunday, we are fortunate to have a schola schooled in Gregorian chant and a cantor to lead the chants of the Ordinary (Kyrie, Gloria, et cetera), as well as sing the propers for the Mass (Introit, Gradual, et cetera). We were able to solicit donors for a English-Latin Missalette for our parishioners. Every Sunday, we provide them with the propers of the Mass.

Realizing that the Traditional Mass is more visual than verbal, we needed to decorate the bare altar with altar clothes, candlesticks, crucifix, patens, etc. but it’s worth the effort and expense. Our altar is resplendent. Everytime I look at it I remember St. Francis who believed in poverty but he never spared the gold for the altar.

Getting past all these concerns, we have to contend with a makeover of the altar, home to the New Rite of the Mass these past forty years, around which we have to maneuver since the situation calls for co-existence between the two forms. We don’t have the luxury of a half-hour break between the previous Mass and ours. This means getting half a dozen boys to quickly re-arrange the sanctuary appointments and kneelers, only to put them all back afterwards in a timely manner.

All these involve an enormous amount of financial and human resources which the local parish cannot provide. By the grace of God, a few generous benefactors have stepped forward to extend a helping hand. We are very grateful for their help and we pray that God rewards them a hundred fold.

As a layman, I have a problem with the claim that the Novus Ordo and the Traditional Mass are part of the same rite, two expressions of the same lex credendi. How can a “banal, on the spot product” be the ordinary expression of the Roman rite? The lex orandi of the two Masses is not the same. It seems to me that we have two different versions of what we believe and how we pray. This was my sense when Fr. Grato began the Holy Sacrifice with “I shall go unto the altar of God, the God who brings joy to my youth” instead of “Good mornin’!”

Isn’t it ironic that the creators of Novus Ordo Missae admitted that what was being produced by the Consilium was substantially different than what came before?

Fr. Joseph Gelineau, S.J., Vatican II peritus and member of the Consilium, creator of the Novus Ordo wrote: … Let those who like myself have known and sung a Latin-Gregorian High Mass remember it if they can. Let them compare it with the Mass we now have. Not only the words, the melodies, and some of the gestures are different. To tell the truth, it is a different liturgy of the Mass. This needs to be said without ambiguity: the Roman Rite as we knew it no longer exists. It has been destroyed... (Demain la liturgie, Paris 1976, pp.9-10).

Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, Undersecretary of Consilium, creator of the Novus Ordo also wrote: The liturgical reform is a major conquest of the Catholic Church and has its ecumenical dimensions since the other Churches and Christian denominations see in it not only something to be admired, but equally a sign of further progress to come. (Notitaie, no. 92, April 1974, p. 126).

Strange language from a Catholic Bishop.

Nevertheless, I would like to end this with a note of thankfulness for the Motu Propio and particularly to Fr. Germanetto Grato, CRS, and the participating priests, Fr. Gio Omale, Msgr. Cesar Salomon and Msgr. Guiuan for generously opening their hearts to Traditional Mass. We gratefully acknowledge the help of Fr. Abe Arganiosa, whose providential long distance telephone call to a fellow Somoscan provided the timely occasion to vouch for the legitimacy of our request for a Traditional Mass. Somebody up there is on our side! Thank you, Fr. Abe.

TLM St. Jerome Emiliani Choir sings "Tu es sacerdo"

2008-09-16T22:16:00.003+08:00

The Traditional Latin Mass choir serenades Fr. Grato on his feast day with a rendition of "Tu es sacerdo".

Jonathan serenades Fr. Grato

2008-09-11T17:32:00.003+08:00

Traditional Latin Mass Altar server, 11-year-old Jonathan Gozos serenades Fr. Germanetto Grato on his feast day, September 7, with a rendition of the "Prayer" in English and Italian!

“… I’m back in Rome but in St. Jerome!”

2008-07-26T21:01:00.003+08:00

We take pleasure in sharing with you the letter of Mariela Corpus-Torres of Ayala Alabang Village to Fr. Grato Germanetto, CRS.

***

July 13, 2008

Dear Rev. Fr. Grato,

Praise the return of the Latin Mass!

An answered prayer! Thanks for making it a regular 9:30AM Mass that my kids and I look forward to “con todo gusto.” We see to it that we’re inside the church immediately after the 8:30AM Filipino Mass to be sure of our front pew for a perfect view.

I dug out our “Sunday Best” out of the baul [chest] and personally hand washed all of them for this special occasion. The velo [veil] is no more to be found. I’ll have to buy a new one or ask from my mother’s friends and relatives if they still have it.

It reminds me of my childhood—Sundays during the 1960s-1970s when I attended Mass at the Manila Cathedral or at Paco Church. It also reminded me of my stay in Rome from 1975-1978 when my late father was assigned at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO of UN), a visit to Amsterdam, and a catholic cathedral in downtown San Francisco, California, USA in 1978.

It’s so solemn…heavenly… soul searching…perfect peace…tranquil…and awesome…words cannot fully describe. It makes me think I’m back in Rome but in St. Jerome! And you’re Italian…ahh muy perfecto!! Rome is my second home! My soul lives in old Rome—that’s why I love the Traditional Latin Mass.

As compared to the regular English/Tagalog Masses, I don’t feel holy or concentrated. However, I feel more concentrated while attending your Latin Masses.

I’m inviting other friends from other cities to experience the Traditional Latin Mass in our parish. The past two Christmas Eve Latin Masses (in Novus Ordo) started it all! We welcome back the return of the Roman Catholic Traditional Mass; more so, that your church is among the first in the Philippines to do so in 2008!

Please don’t ever stop. “Once you pop you’ll always pop and hop back to old Rome in St. Jerome!”

God bless!

Ciao…

Inaugural Traditional Latin Mass at St. Jerome Emiliani

2008-07-22T20:03:00.007+08:00

Pastor's Message:

P. Introibo ad altare Dei.

I will go in unto the altar of God.

S. Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam.

To God, the joy of my youth.

These past two Sundays (June 29 and July 6), these words in Latin resounded in our church at 9:30 am, accompanied by the beautiful and solemn Gregorian chant. They are the beginning of the Holy Mass celebrated in the Traditional Latin Rite as mandated in the 1962 Missale Romanum reformed by Pope John XXIII.

The Traditional Latin Mass was never abolished nor forbidden - just put aside to give way to the New Ordo of the Mass celebrated in Vernacular Languages and accompanied by contemporary music.

Reactions to this New Ordo have been varied in many parts of the world. Some of them with painful consequences, like the schism of the Pius X group. But it must be said very clearly that the real reason for their separation from the communion of the Roman Catholic Church has never been the new Liturgy in itself but their rejection of the whole of the Vatican II Council.

Now, exactly one year ago, the Holy FAther, Benedict XVI, promulgated the Motu Propio "Summorum Pontificum" which exhorts Bishops and Priests to heed the requests of the faithful who long for the Traditional Latin Mass.

That is why I accepted the invitation of a group of faithful from different parishes of the Diocese of Parañaque and practiced the old rite to become ready for it, while they provided me and the church with the necessary books and other paraphernalia: vestments for the celebrant and altar servers, beautiful candelabra for the altar, processional cross and torches, censer and bucket for holy water. Finally on Sunday, June 29, 2008, Solemnity of the Saints Peter and Paul, we did it.

It was a beautiful and solemn celebration, according to the many feedbacks we received after the mass. The same happened last Sunday and I hope, will happen every Sunday.

I felt so much united with the Church of today and of centuries past. The use of the language and the chant which have been used for centuries all over the world was simply thrilling. Those who did not understand Latin felt even more the solemnity and the mystery of the celebration. Thousands and thousands of saints and plain people have repeated these same words and felt so much united with God.

You are invited to participate on Sundays at 9:30 am and experience the marvelous feeling of praying with the rite our parents (for us already in age) and grandparents used during their lifetime. A useful booklet is provided to help you follow the celebration.

God bless you all and protect you from all danger of the body and soul.

Rev. Fr. Grato Germanetto, CRS
Parish Priest
St. Jerome Emiliani and St. Susanna Parish