Quite simply, if you want to execute well the liturgy—old form, new form, Divine office, this or that Rite or Blessing—it makes sense to want to know where it comes from.
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| Fortescue (click here for the Amazon link) |
I had never participated in a "High Mass" before. I had been celebrating a low mass pretty frequently and figured it was probably only a matter of time. Sure enough, a friend of mine invited me. He was going to be the celebrant and he needed a Deacon. I remember thinking, "Sure, what the heck, I might as well learn this now." So I said yes.
Well, it was quite the education. In humility. I hadn't felt so ignorant in a long time—probably a bad thing in itself. God bless the two young laymen who knew pretty much exactly what they were doing with the details of the Mass and had no problem telling us, three priests, every little move.
We rehearsed several times. Again, requiring more humility than I was expecting. I'm used to knowing where to go and what to do and why to do it on the altar. I've been doing it for ten years. And even when I learned the low Mass a couple of years ago, I was surprised how quickly I picked it up. The latin being the principle obstacle then.
When in rehearsal, the two young laymen happened to find themselves in conflict on this or that detail, which wasn't very often, they consulted Fortescue and that settled it. So I wanted to know who was this Fortescue guy and what did he know anyway. Again, more humility. But thank God.
I bought a copy, but it was a reprint of Fortescue's first edition of The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite. It took me a minute when I realized that what I needed was not the first edition but the latest (15th) edition. The first edition was nice, but something of a relic. I found that these two other characters have come along since, first O'Connell then Reid, and standing on the shoulders of a giant, they've, especially most lately Reid, given us what we now have—another occasion for growing in humility—or better, a gateway to the blessed liturgy of the Church, thanks be to God. So I got the 15th edition.
Since then, it’s been more humility and a great desire to learn this thing. This thing being how to celebrate the Roman Rite, my Roman Rite—Mass, Divine Office, Blessings, Sacraments, everything—with understanding, with knowledge, with love and piety, with devotion, peace, fervor, nobility, simplicity, reverence, care, attention, watchfulness, shrewdness for God. For the love of God, for my sanctification and for the sanctification of everybody in this blessed parish and in the whole world, but especially in this blessed little parish where it has pleased God that my bishop should have placed me for this briefest of moments. How long will it be? Nine months? A year? Five Years? Forty Years? It doesn’t matter. It’s all the briefest of instants. Because it will end one day. It will all end. And I will have to give an account for the piety of my people to Jesus Christ himself, seated in judgment. I will have to stand before him. He will be waiting for my response to his asking of me “Did you prepare them well for me?” “Are they going to find themselves standing where you now stand with the advantage of having known of my plan for them through your teaching and example?” That’s when the duration of my brief pastorate will matter very little. Because the care of souls is the care of souls, whether it is five souls for five minutes, or five thousand souls for fifty years. I owe God my best.
So, I will learn my Fortescue. Which will help me prepare my people for their particular judgment.
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| Fortescue (center, in cope) might not have looked like he was having fun, but, trust me, he was having a blast! |
