The Athanasian Creed and the Holy Trinity

On the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, in the Divine Office of Prime, the Athanasian Creed is said.  And it leaves no doubt as to the unity of the Holy Trinity!  It has been used by Christian churches since the sixth century, and is the first creed in which the equality of the three persons of the Trinity is explicitly stated. There’s an interesting article at Wikipedia.

Canticum Quicumque (Athanasian Creed)

Whosoever willeth to be saved, * before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith.

Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, * without doubt he shall perish eternally.
 

Now the Catholic faith is this, * that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity.
 

Neither confounding the Persons, * nor dividing the substance.
 

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, * and another of the Holy Ghost.
 

But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is one, * the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-Eternal.
 

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, * and such is the Holy Ghost.
 

 The Father Uncreated, the Son Uncreated, * and the Holy Ghost Uncreated.

The Father Infinite, the Son Infinite, * and the Holy Ghost Infinite. * The Father Eternal, the Son Eternal, * and the Holy Ghost Eternal.

And yet they are not three Eternals, * but one Eternal.
 

As also they are not three Uncreated, nor three Infinites, * but One Uncreated, and One Infinite.
 

So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, * and the Holy Ghost Almighty.
 

And yet they are not three Almighties, * but One Almighty.
 

So the Father is God, the Son God, * and the Holy Ghost God.
 

And yet they are not three Gods, * but One God.
 

So the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, * and the Holy Ghost Lord.
 

And yet they are not three Lords, * but One Lord.
 

For, like as we are compelled by Christian truth to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, * so are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, there be three Gods or three Lords.
 

The Father is made of none, * neither created, nor begotten.
 

The Son is of the Father alone: * not made, nor created, but begotten.
 

The Holy Ghost is of the Father, and the Son: * not made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
 

So there is One Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; * one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts.
 

And in this Trinity is nothing afore or after, nothing is greater or less; * but the whole three Persons are Co-Eternal together, and Co-Equal.
 

So that in all things, as is aforesaid, * the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
 

He therefore that willeth to be safe, * let him thus think of the Trinity.
 

But it is necessary to eternal salvation, * that he also believe faithfully the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 

The right Faith therefore is, that we believe and confess, * that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.
 

God, of the Substance of the Father, Begotten before the worlds: * and Man, of the substance of His mother, born in the world.
 

Perfect God, Perfect Man, * of a reasoning soul and human flesh subsisting.
 

Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, * inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood.
 

Who, although He be God and Man, * yet He is not two, but One Christ.
 

One, however, not by conversion of the Godhead into Flesh, * but by taking of the Manhood into God.
 

One altogether, not by confusion of Substance, * but by Unity of Person.
 

For as the reasoning soul and flesh is one man, * so God and man is One Christ.
 

Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, * rose again the third day from the dead.
 

He ascended into heaven, He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, * from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
 

At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, * and shall give account for their own works.
 

And they that have done good shall go into life eternal, * but they that have done evil into eternal fire.
 

This is the Catholic Faith, * which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be safe.
 

V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, * and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Ant. Glory be to thee, O equal Trinity * one Deity, from before all ages, so now and for evermore.

Bishop Cary DVD Available

The Diocese of Baker website has announced that a DVD of Bishop Cary's ordination is now available for $20; to order the 2-disc set, contact Patti Rausch at (541) 388-4004 or by email at prausch@dioceseofbaker.org


The video below is on the Diocese of Baker website; it's a compilation of the other photos already shown, but set to music ("Holy God").  

The Truth About Gregorian Chant

 “What does Sacrosanctum Concilium 116 really say?” asks Fr. Z, and in answering his own question he has some interesting thoughts to share on Gregorian chant. Be sure to read the entire article. Here are some excerpts and a little commentary:

First, the Council said that Gregorian chant was the characteristic music of the Roman liturgy. That fact has been entirely ignored. Also, the very purpose of liturgical music has been obscured. It is not simply ornamentation or accompaniment. Sacred music for liturgy is prayer, it is liturgy. Therefore, the idiom of the music must be appropriate for liturgical action and the texts must be liturgical texts and sacred texts. This has been widely ignored for a long time, with the result that there is great confusion and shoddy music everywhere.

He notes that the common translation of SC 116 is: “The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.” But true to form, Fr. Z informs us that

This isn’t a bad translation, but it is weak. To my ear it doesn’t convey the force of the vocabulary which sounds like legal language having to do with property, possession, heredity. This is a powerful declaration about something being a prized possession, even the most prized of all, since it is in the “princeps locus” the “first/chief/most distinguished place”.

Fr. Z gives his usual excellent analysis of the Latin words and their appropriate translation within the context of the whole sentence. He concludes that the Church is very serious about the importance of using Gregorian chant in the Mass:

The Council Fathers weren’t fooling around. They wanted to make this forceful and clear by using a construction that emphasizes the character, the nature of chant, and then producing a conclusion, all using juridical language.

…When we read SC 116 “latinly”, it says that, barring something out of the ordinary, Gregorian chant is the first type of sacred music that is to be used in the Roman liturgy, because the Church claims and acknowledges and declares Gregorian chant to have the “first place” among all legitimate types of sacred music. Just as when a father recognized a first-born son that son became the principle heir, to be preferred over even all other legitimate children, so to the Church places Gregorian chant in the first place over all other types of sacred liturgical music. At the same time, there are rare occasions when something other than Gregorian chant can be used.

He then gives us his rendering of a translation more true to the Latin:

The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as characteristically belonging to the Roman liturgy, with the result that, therefore, other things being equal, in liturgical actions it (Gregorian chant) takes possession of the first place.

That’s a much stronger statement, and Fr. Z concludes (my emphases):

If you aren’t praying with Gregorian chant, 50 years after the Council, then you are 50 years out of step with the Council mandated in the strongest terms.

The Council Fathers in Sacrosanctum Concilium go on to talk about the use of other kinds of music and they provide a welcome flexibility. But none of those other provisions eliminates or supersede or mitigate what SC 116 says.

And here is a most important point:

In other words, we shouldn’t justify the use of Gregorian chant. The Church has done that for us. We have to justify the use of something other than Gregorian chant.

In other words, it clearly goes against Vatican II to continually employ guitars, piano, and tambourines at Mass. Gregorian chant utilizes no such instrumentation. The guitars, etc., should be a rarity, not the standard fare at Mass!

Help is available for anyone seeking to learn Gregorian chant, and for anyone seeking to understand how Gregorian chant is properly used in the Mass. Contact Stephanie Swee at Swee0574@gmail.com for more information.

Pentecost: The Sequence

Here’s everything you ever wanted to know - and more! - about when to sing the Sequence for Pentecost! This information comes to you from one who is much more knowledgeable than I am regarding such matters.

The question arises: is the Sequence for Pentecost sung before or after the Alleluia? This becomes an issue only for the Novus Ordo; the answer is quite clear in the Extraordinary Form.

Sigh. Welcome to the world of ecclesiastical politics.

The present state of affairs leaves us in the conundrum of both "A" and "B" (which are mutually exclusive) being correct (for now, at least), depending on where the Mass is being offered. Nevertheless it is important to know which of the two "correct" positions is the more appropriate.

The current (2003) English translation of the General Instruction to the Roman Missal (GIRM), "Including Adaptations for Dioceses of the United States of America" states:

64. The Sequence, which is optional except on Easter Sunday and on Pentecost Day, is sung before the Alleluia.

The GIRM is liturgical law for the Roman Rite throughout the world. But note that this quotation (no. 64) is from the approved English translation of the GIRM that includes "Adaptations for Dioceses of the United States of America". When we compare this same article to the Latin original of the GIRM that is used throughout the rest of the world, we find exactly the opposite:

64. Sequentia, quae praeter quam diebus Paschae et Pentecostes, est ad libitum, cantatur post Allelúia.

(64. The Sequence, which is optional except on the days of Pascha and Pentecost, is sung after the Alleluia.)

Either the Vatican's designated approvers of official vernacular translations didn't catch the error in the English edition, or the change was approved as an authorized adaptation for Dioceses of the USA. I'm inclined to think that it was a case of the latter: the prelates appointed to oversee linguistics didn't have a background in sacred liturgy, let alone in sacred music. They failed to understand and appreciate what a Sequentia is, what it is meant to do, and why it is called "Sequentia": it follows sequentially after the Alleluia, as a florid jubilation on that same Alleluia.

Well-meaning priests and bishops had long noted (well, "long", anyway, after Pope Paul VI's new Mass came out in the 1970’s) that, with the new – and misunderstood – emphasis on EVERYONE having to sing the "Gospel Acclamation" (i.e., "Alleluia"), the people were all standing to sing the Alleluia, and then everyone had to "just" stand there while someone (often just a cantor, since the choir wouldn't learn to sing the Sequence) sang this long solo.

Or, worse yet (following down that rabbit trail of "active participation"), this is all viewed as the apparent anticlimax of the entire congregation having to stand (oh, my Gawd!) and recite (because we HAVE to "participate"!! – and because the chant is TOO HARD for the congregation to learn – and besides, chant is SO pre-Vatican Two!). Meanwhile the deacon/priest stands at the ambo "wasting his time", waiting for this unnecessary intrusion into HIS ministry of proclaiming the Gospel.

With this kind of mindset, coupled with sheer ignorance, the historical placement of the Sequence after the "Gospel Acclamation" made no sense whatsoever.

Ergo, voila! We'll just move the Sequence to before the "Gospel Acclamation"...a sort of extended meditation, before we get on to the real business of the congregation leaping to its feet to "welcome" the Gospel. And this is what happens when you let "liturgists" (cf. "terrorists") run things.

So when it comes to the Sequence in the Novus Ordo Missae (i.e., ordinary form), the present state of affairs is dismal: in the USA, it is sung before the "Gospel Acclamation"; everywhere else in the Catholic world, it is sung in its rightful and historical place: after the Alleluia.

Now just sit back and relax and listen to it...aaaahhhhh....

Episcopal Ordination Photos: Bishop Liam Cary

Thanks to Mark Salvatore (marc@avcreate.com) for these incredible photos (and the captions) of the ordination of Bishop Liam Cary for the Diocese of Baker, May 18, 2012.

Bishop Elect Liam Cary is addressed by His Excellency Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano,
Aposotlic Nuncio to the United States followed by the reading of the
Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XVI
appointing Father Liam Cary Bishop of the Diocese of Baker.
 This authenticates the discernment process of the Church
and the Holy Father's choice of this priest for ordination to the episcopate.

The Most Reverend John Vlazny Archbishop of Portland in Oregon
laying hands on Bishop Liam Cary during his ordination.

Bishop William Stephen Skylstad, Bishop Emeritus of Spokane,
Apostolic Administrator of Baker
laying hands on Bishop Liam Cary during his ordination. 

The Most Reverend Robert Vasa Bishop of Santa Rosa (former Bishop of Baker)
laying hands on Bishop Liam Cary during his ordination.

His Eminence Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.,
Archbishop of Chicago laying hands on Bishop Liam Cary during his ordination.

His Excellency Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano,
Aposotlic Nuncio to the United States
 laying hands on Bishop Liam Cary during his Ordination.

This action, part of the Ordination Rite from earliest centuries,
expresses the power of the Word of God over us.
 The life of this new bishop must be thoroughly imbued
with the spirit of God's Word which is the foundation of his ministry.

Taking the Book of Gospels from a deacon, Archbishop Vlazny presents it to
Bishop Cary as a symbol of his ministry of preaching and teaching.

The bishop's ring and miter are presented with the
pastoral staff, which reflects the role of a bishop as one
who gathers and shepherds the people of God.

Meditation on the Ascension

From the lessons for the office of matins for the Sunday after Ascension:

From the Sermons of St Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. 2nd 07i the Ascension.

  
Dearly beloved brethren, our Saviour is gone up from us into heaven, but let us not be troubled on earth. Let only our heart be there with Him, and we shall have peace here. Let us in heart thither ascend with Christ in the meanwhile, and when that glad day which He hath promised cometh, our body will follow. But we must know, my brethren, that there are some things that cannot ascend with Christ: pride cannot, nor covetousness, nor brutishness; no one of our diseases can ascend thither where our Healer is. And, therefore, if we would follow our Healer, we must needs leave our diseases and sins behind us. All such things tie us down, as it were, with bands, and hamper us in the meshes of a net of sins but, with God's help, we will say with the Psalmist "Let us break their bands asunder”, that we may be able honestly to say to the Lord "Thou hast loosed my bonds I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving". 

The Resurrection of the Lord is our hope the Ascension of the Lord is our glorification. Today we keep the solemn holiday of the Ascension. If, therefore, our keeping of this holiday is to be a right, faithful, earnest, holy, godly keeping, we must in mind likewise ascend, and lift up our hearts unto the Lord. When we ascend we must not be high-minded, nor flatter ourselves with our good works, as though they were our own. We must lift up our hearts unto the Lord. When man's heart is lifted up, but not unto the Lord, such lifting-up is pride; to lift up the heart unto the Lord, is to make the Most High our Refuge. Behold, my brethren, a great wonder. God is high, but if thou art lifted up He fleeth from thee, whereas, if thou humblest thyself, He cometh down to thee. Wherefore? "The Lord is high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly; but the proud He knoweth from afar." To the lowly He hath respect, that He may raise them up; the proud He knoweth from afar, that He may thrust them down.

Christ arose again, to give us hope that this mortal will yet put on immortality He hath assured against an hopeless death, and against the thought that death endeth life. We were troubled, even as touching the soul, but Christ, arising from the grave, hath assured to us the resurrection of the body also. Believe therefore, that thou mayest be made pure. First it behoveth thee to believe, if by faith thou wouldest in the end worthily see God. And wouldest thou see God Give ear to His own words: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). Think first, then, how to purify thine heart; take from it whatsoever thou seest in it which displeaseth God.

Ascension Thursday Sunday?

This is from "Fr. Z's Annual Rant about Ascension Thursday Sunday":

 

The liturgical celebration of Ascension by the Latin Church has become a little confused in recent years.

In the post-Conciliar calendar used with the Novus Ordo editions of the Missale Romanum for this coming Sunday we ought - in my opinion – to be observing the 7th Sunday of Easter. Ascension Thursday should fall, appropriately, on Thursday. 

However, by the same logical that dislocated Epiphany (“Twelfth Night”) from its proper place twelve days, appropriately, after Christmas, some years ago the Holy See allowed bishops to transfer the celebration of Ascension Thursday to the following Sunday.

I call this liturgical caper “Ascension Thursday Sunday”.

Those who are participating at Holy Mass with the 1962MR avoid all this. Ascension Thursday is, logically, on Thursday.

Since we should, when examining issues, pay attention to cult, code and creed, and since we have looked at the theological point of the liturgical observance of the Ascension (creed and cult) let’s look also at some law (code).

In the 1983 Code of Canon Law, can. 1246, Ascension Thursday is indicated as one of the few Holy Days of Obligation.

Nota bene: There are some dioceses where Ascension Thursday has not been transferred.
...

The bishops who did transfer the feast to Sunday were, I am sure, hoping to expose more people to the mystery of the Ascension of the Lord. Probably included in that calculation was also the notion that it is tooo haaard for people to go to Mass also on Thursday. “Mass twice in a week? Tooo haaard!”

There's more...be sure to read it!