Tomorrow, which is Maria Regina in the Novus Ordo, was assigned by Pius XII to the Immaculate Heart. But Maria Regina is so suitable for the old Octave Day of the Assumption that Dom Gueranger's article for that day is in fact entirely about that theme.
The imperatives of Mutual Enrichment impel me to suggest that, in this detail, the Novus Ordo did get things right. Maria Regina should go to August 22. At the same time, Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces could return to May 31, where she was placed at dear Cardinal Mercier's request; and the Immaculate Heart could go to the Sabbath after the Sacred Heart ... where, indeed, the Most Pure Heart was sometimes celebrated in earlier times.
Very importantly, the Visitation should remain on (Vetus Ordo) or be returned to (Novus Ordo) July 2, bringing the celebration into line with Byzantine precedents.
Such rationalisation would imply two ostensible victories for the Novus Ordo (Maria Regina and the Immaculate Heart) and one victory for the Vetus Ordo (the Visitation). But the two 'victories' for the Novus Ordo would represent, in fact, victories for pre-Pacellian liturgical or devotional instincts. There are times when Being Traditional is best served by 'going behind' Pius XII, and we should not be deterred from doing so just because the Novus Ordo happened to make those changes.
For those of the Anglican Patrimony, Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces on May 31 should be particularly dear, since it would be a kind of memorial to the great Belgian Cardinal who sponsored the Malines Conversations. C A P D
Call me old fashioned but I am more than happy to stick with the straightforward Octave Day of the Assumption.
ReplyDeleteUm, today is the memorial of Pius X in the universal calendar for the OF, and tomorrow 22 August is the memorial of the queenship of the BVM.
ReplyDeleteSo what?
ReplyDeleteI think Percy must work for the CBCEW with such perceptiveness and acute love of relevance!
ReplyDeletePossibly not everyone understands that Maria Regina refers to the queenship of Mary? I do tend to agree with Rubricario though.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I agree about the Feast of the Visitation being on 2 July. If John the Baptist was born on 24 June, how can he have "leapt in the womb" 8 days later?! A May celebration makes more sense chronologically, and Mary is traditionally associated with the month of May. Maybe we could have a new Feast of the "Circumcision of John the Baptist" on 2 July; or perhaps "Naming of John the Baptist" for the more squeamish or those concerned with Biblical accuracy!
ReplyDeleteFrom the Wikipedia entry for Hokey Cokey
ReplyDelete"In 2008, an Anglican cleric, Canon Matthew Damon, Provost of Wakefield Cathedral, West Yorkshire, claimed that the dance movements were a parody of the traditional Catholic Latin Mass.[10] Up until the reforms of Vatican II, the priest performed his movements facing the altar rather than the congregation, who could not hear the words very well, nor understand the Latin, nor clearly see his movements. At one point the priest would say "Hoc est corpus meum" meaning "This is My body". That theory led Scottish politician Michael Matheson in 2008 to urge police action "against individuals who use it [the song and dance] to taunt Catholics". Matheson's claim was deemed ridiculous by fans from both sides of the Old Firm (the rival Glasgow football teams Celtic and Rangers) and calls were made on fans' forums for both sides to join together to sing the song on 27 December 2008 at Ibrox Stadium."
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ReplyDelete@Colin Spinks: Well, three months passed after Our Lady left St Elisabeth, so 31 May doesn't make sense "chronologically" either. 2 July is simply the first day after the Octave of St John which makes it perfect. The Visitation was so popular in Germany (also as a patrocinium for churches) that here the date of 2 July survived even into the Novus Ordo.
ReplyDeleteand even survived in the liturgical calendars of the Lutherans in Germany!
DeleteI'd like to see Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces return to May 31st, because that was the Mass stipulated to be said in the Diocese where I was born, on the day that I was born.
ReplyDeleteIn the early 1970s the then (very liberal in other matters) principal of Cuddesdon upbraided his students for performing the Hokey Cokey as a parody of the mass, not only for the lyrics but citing also the ‘turn around’ at the Orate fratres and the ‘knees bend’ and the ‘arms stretch’ at the consecration and elevation of the sacred species.
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