Letters: Vernacular

Sydney
13 July 2003

Sleepless nights, then it was music to the ears of cathedral worshippers

Outrage at ‘bishop’ ad on TV

Church watchdog reviews Towards Healing protocol

Union bid to slash Catholic school funds

Susie a winner at St Cecilia’s

Foodbank sales break $1m barrier

Spiritans mark 300 years

Editorial: Virtual visit to Vatican

Letters: Vernacular

Conversation: Ryan Macalyk - student at St Ignatius College, Riverview - Great days and good knights for ‘Wheels’

Biblical perspective on life’s problems

Mysteries of Light CD will aid Emmaus in Perth

Kids starve in East Timor

House of Welcome open

Sylvester II - Pope from IM to 1003

Child’s Bible passes landmark with 40 millionth copy

Schools rally to call for Winter Appeal

Letters: Vernacular

Having lived more than half of my life pre-Vatican II, I am happy attending the present Mass in the vernacular.

However, I have never understood the Church’s opposition to the Latin (Tridentine) Mass.

This is the Mass for which so many were persecuted and, in some cases, gave their lives over the years.

It was good that The Catholic Weekly gave a happy forecast of the future acceptance of the Latin and vernacular Masses worshipping together.

Geoffrey M Prendergast
North Ryde, NSW

LATIN ADVOCATE

The debate in your pages about Latin in the Church invoked the authority of “good Pope John XXIII” in support of the vernacular instead of Latin in the liturgy. In fact, Pope John was a powerful advocate of Latin in the Church.

In his 1962 apostolic constitution Veterum Sapientia he extolled its dignity and virtues, describing it as “a general passport to the proper understanding of the Christian writers of antiquity and the documents of the Church’s teaching”.

He added: “It is also a most effective bond, binding the Church of today with that of the past and of the future in wonderful continuity.”

Pope John Paul II has encouraged a revival of Latin in the Church.

As for the Fathers of Vatican II, they declared in the conciliar constitution on liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium #36: “The use of Latin, with due respect to particular law, is to be preserved in the Latin Rites”.

Fr John George
Randwick North, NSW

SPECIAL LANGUAGE

Why should Catholic Mass be celebrated in Latin, a dead language which nobody speaks?

Think about it: Don’t Hindus pray in Sanskrit, a language just as dead as Latin?

Don’t Jewish ceremonies use Hebrew?

Isn’t the Quran in Arabic, a language most Muslims can’t speak?

Because God is so special, it’s natural to address him in a language which is special, which is used for nothing else.

People attending Traditional (Latin) Mass have missals with the words in Latin and English printed side by side.

There’s no problem following what is going on.

The important difference between the New Mass and the Traditional Mass isn’t the language.

What matters is that the New Mass prayers don’t say what the prayers of the Traditional Mass say. The New Mass prayers omit most references to the fact that Catholic Mass is a sacrifice - Our Lord’s body and blood becoming really present when the priest consecrates the bread and wine.

Arnold Jago
Mildura, VIC

‘THANK YOU’ TO BISHOP

Thanks to Bishop Peter Ingham of Wollongong for his part in bringing the excommunication of Fr Malcolm Broussard to light for this priest’s attempted ordination as a bishop without the approval of Pope John Paul II, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ and successor of St Peter.

This cleric, ordained a priest overseas, has been connected with the NSW group under the leadership of a man known as the “Little Pebble”.

Fr Terence Purcell
St Benedict’s Church
Broadway, NSW

CATHOLIC MPS?

I want to express my thanks to Paul Gibson and his 21 colleagues, among them a number of Catholics, who had the intestinal fortitude to stand up and vote against the stem cell bill that recently passed through the NSW Legislative Assembly.

It is extremely disappointing that other Catholic politicians voted for the legislation.

This latter group have clearly rejected the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of life and sacrificed the innocent children on the altar of utilitarianism.

For this shocking act they should be considered excommunicate members of the Catholic Church.

Vincent James
Carlton, NSW

MEMORABLE

Some years ago I attended Mass with my eldest son and his family. The parish priest gave a memorable homily covering confession and mortal sin. He spoke compassionately and with conviction.

After Mass I remarked to my son that vast numbers of Catholics had long ago left the Church simply because they failed to hear the healing words of Christ as espoused by this very wise priest.

My early memories of Catholic life are of a judgmental sermon on the sinfulness of man and the eternal damnation awaiting him.

For many people the perception of the Church is that there is an emphasis on the law and its enforcement.

The priest who can bring the peace and love of Christ to the people of God and comfort them in their tribulations is, indeed, a special and rare gift.

Paul Gilbert
Shell Cove, NSW

ST JUSTIN MARTYR

GM Prendergast states (Celebrants, please, Letters CW 18/5): “I was unpleasantly surprised to hear a commentator refer to the priest about to say Mass as the ‘presider’.”

That term would surprise many of us, myself included, on first hearing it.

However, when reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church we find it is not some new ‘Church speak’, but was used by St Justin Martyr when he wrote to the pagan Emperor Antoninus Pius in AD155 explaining what Christians did on Sundays.

Marie Carey
Rooty Hill, NSW