St. Marcellus I, Pope, Martyr

St. Marcellus I defended the rights of the Church with heroic resistance. On this account he was exiled by the heretical Maxentius. He died in 310.

My reading list has received a number of new entries in the past couple of days, the first of which was Lex Orandi Lex Credendi: An Examination of the Ethos of the Tridentine Mass and that of the Novus Ordo of Pope Paul VI by John Wetherell (thanks to my father-in-law for this one).

The book, as you can see, is a beautifully bound hardcover; it is published by the newly established Saint Joan Press, which describes itself as "a traditional Catholic publishing house producing high quality hardback books at affordable prices." If this book is any indication, there are good things to come. Although interesting and useful throughout, the real gem in this book is the third appendix, which catalogues some of the major differences between the Traditional Latin Mass [TLM] and the Novus Ordo Missae while showing at the same time the disconcerting similarities between the changes made by the 16th century English Protestant Reformer Thomas Cranmer and those made by the post-Vatican II Consilium charged with implementing Sacrosanctum concilium (Decree on the Sacred Liturgy). From Appendix III: "Differences between the Ordinary of the Tridentine Mass and the Novus Ordo Missae."

1. TLM: Entitled "The Mass". Cranmer entitled his 1549 service: "The Supper of the Lord and the Holy Communion commonly called the Mass". The Novus Ordo Missae was entitled "The Lord's Supper or Mass" in the original Article 7. The term "Lord's Supper" is still included in the revised Article 7.

2. TLM: Celebrated in Latin. Cranmer's Lord's Supper celebrated in the vernacular. The Novus Ordo Missae celebrated in the vernacular.

3. TLM: Much of the Mass said inaudibly. Cranmer's service one of public praise and thanksgiving and therefore said audibly, with the possible exception of the Offertory Prayers in a sung service. Novus Ordo Missae said audibly throughout.

4. TLM: Celebrated on an eastward-facing altar. Cranmer's service celebrated on a table facing the people. Novus Ordo Missae celebrated on what is clearly intended to be a table facing the people.

5. TLM: The Psalm Judica me, unacceptable to Protestants in virtue of its reference to the "altar of God". Suppressed by Cranmer. Suppressed in the Novus Ordo Missae.

6. TLM: Double Confiteor distinguishes between priest and people, which is unacceptable to Protestants, as is the invocation of the saints. Cranmer changed and moved the position of the Confiteor. The double Confiteor has been suppressed in the Novus Ordo Missae, thus blurring the distinction between priest and people. A truncated Confiteor invoking the angels and saints is included as an option but other penitential rites containing no such invocation and thus completely acceptable to Protestants are provided.

7. TLM: The prayer Aufer a nobis evokes Old Testament sacrifice with its reference to the Holy of Holies which the High Priest entered to offer the blood of the sacrificial victim. Suppressed in the Novus Ordo Missae.

8. TLM: The prayer Oramus te, Domine refers to the relics in the altar stone. The use of an altar stone is no longer obligatory for movable altars or when Mass is celebrated outside a consecrated building. An altar stone is only "commended" for permanent altars (Institutio Generalis 265-6). The prayer has been suppressed in the Novus Ordo Missae.

9. TLM: Introit, Kyrie, Gloria, Collect, Epistle, Gospel, Creed. Retained by Cranmer in 1549. Retained in Novus Ordo Missae.

10. TLM: The Offertory Prayers: Suscipe, sancta Pater Deus, qui humanae Offerimus tibi, Domine In Spiritu humilitatis Veni, sanctificator omnipotens Suscipe, sancta Trinitas. Comparable prayers in the Sarum rite suppressed by Cranmer. All these prayers suppressed in the Novus Ordo Missae.

11. TLM: Orate fratres. Suppressed by Cranmer and suppressed by the Consilium in the draft for the Missa Normativa. Restored as a result of pressure at the 1967 Synod in Rome.

12. TLM: Secret Prayers (Proper of the Mass). These prayers often contain specifically sacrificial terminology. They were abolished by Cranmer but have been retained in the Novus Ordo Missae though frequently emasculated in the I.C.E.L. translations. As these prayers do not form part of the Ordinary they do not provide an obstacle to achieving an ecumenical Ordinary.

13. TLM: Sursum corda dialogue, Preface, Sanctus. Retained by Cranmer. Retained in Novus Ordo Missae.

14. TLM: Roman Canon. Abolished by Cranmer. Retained as an option in the Novus Ordo Missae, which also contains a Canon (Eucharistic Prayer II) which some Protestants consider acceptable. It makes no distinction between priest and people and does not include the word "Hostia" (victim).

15. TLM: The Consecration formula. This was considerably modified by Cranmer, if indeed there was a consecration, and the Novus Ordo Missae has incorporated his most important modifications.

16. TLM: The prayer Libera nos after the Pater noster. Luther and Cranmer abolished this prayer, owing to the invocation of saints at its conclusion. A modified version has been retained in the Novus Ordo Missae with no invocation of saints.

17. TLM: Haec commixtio. A version of this prayer in the Sarum Missal was abolished by Cranmer. A modified version of the prayer has been retained in the Novus Ordo Missae but with the significant omission of the word "consecratio."

18. TLM: Domine Jesu Christe, qui dixisti. This prayer did not occur in the Sarum rite but contains nothing to which a Protestant could object beyond the words "ne respicias peccata mea" in which the priest asks forgiveness for his personal sins. This is another prayer distinguishing between the priest and layman, and in the Novus Ordo Missae "peccata mea" has been changed to "peccata nostra" - "our sins."

19. TLM: Domine Jesu Christe, Fili Dei and Perceptio Corporis tui. Modified versions of these prayers are included in the Novus Ordo Missae, one of which the priest says in his personal capacity before Communion. It is a matter for some satisfaction that such a prayer is included. Too much significance should not be attached to the use of realistic language regarding the Real Presence in these prayers. It was primarily sacrificial language which the Reformers wished to eliminate. They were able to reconcile the use of language apparently expressing belief in the Real Presence with the own theories.

20a. TLM: Communion given to the laity under one kind. Communion given under both kinds in Cranmer's service. The occasions when this is done in the Novus Ordo Missae are multiplying. It is permitted at all Sunday Masses.

20b. TLM: Traditional style altar breads. The relevant rubric in Cranmer's 1549 rite states that altar breads should be: "unleavened, and round, as it was before, but without all manner of print, and something more larger and thicker than it was, so that it may be aptly divided in two pieces, at the least, or more by the discretion of the minister". Article 283 of the General Instruction reads: "Bread used for the Eucharist, even though unleavened and of the traditional shape, ought to be made in such a way that the priest, when celebrating with a congregation, can break it into pieces and distribute these to at least some of the faithful".

20c. TLM: The Host is placed on the tongue of the kneeling communicant by a priest. Cranmer retained all three traditional practices in his 1549 rite, but in the 1552 rite Communion was given in the hand to signify that the bread was ordinary bread and the priest did not differ in essence from a layman. Communion is now given in the hand in almost every Western country but the Novus Ordo Missae has out-Cranmered Cranmer by allowing communicants to stand and receive from a lay minister.

21. TLM: Quod ore sumpsimus and Corpus tuum. These prayers so not refer to sacrifice, but their explicit references to the Real Presence would not commend them to Protestants although Luther felt able to retain them owing to his theory of consubstantiation. The first was not in the Sarum rite, the second was, and Cranmer suppressed it. Both have been suppressed in the Novus Ordo Missae.

22. TLM: Placeat tibi. The Placeat tibi was a bête noire for Protestants. This prayer alone would have rendered the Novus Ordo Missae unacceptable to them had it been retained. Following the example of Luther, Cranmer, and other Reformers, the Consilium suppressed this prayer.

23. TLM: Last Gospel. There is nothing in the Last Gospel incompatible with Protestantism but its retention in the Novus Ordo Missae would have clashed with the pattern of Protestant Communion services which conclude with a blessing. The Consilium suppressed it.

All due credit for the above goes, as I mentioned, to John Wetherell and is taken from his book Lex Orandi Lex Credendi. It is a useful exercise to go back through this lengthy (but far from complete!) list of changes made to the Mass and ask oneself: Did the good of the Church genuinely [!] and certainly [!] require [!] this innovation? Vatican II stipulated after all that "there must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them" (Sacrosanctum concilium, 23). Thanks for the good reading, Dad!