Catholics sense peace during rite celebrated with times of silence

By Kristy MacKaben

Altoona Mirror newspaper

After a hiatus of more than three decades, the extraordinary Mass, also known as the traditional liturgy of the Roman rite, is being offered again in the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese.

(Mirror photo illustration by Patrick Waksmunski) The Rev. Ananias Buccicone, O.S.B., turns to face the congregation before Communion with altar servers Tim Kopp, and Patrick Illig III. Left: Buccicone gives Communion at the Communion rail with the help of altar server Brian Walker of Hollidaysburg.

Queen of Peace Church in Patton is the only church in the diocese providing the all-Latin Mass since the mid-1960s.

After the Second Vatican Council, in the mid-1960s, the traditional Latin Mass only was permitted to be celebrated privately by priests.

But in July 2007, Pope Benedict XVI launched an initiative allowing the traditional Latin Mass to be offered publicly. Bishop Joseph V. Adamec gave permission to the Rev. Ananias Buccicone, O.S.B., to celebrate the extraordinary Mass at Queen of Peace Sunday afternoons.

''When the pope allowed it, many requests came to me from within and outside the parish. They said, 'if anybody is going to do it, it's going to be you,'" Buccicone said. ''I have a tendency to be more traditional in the way I celebrate Mass."

To offer the Mass, Buccicone is required to understand and speak Latin, as well as perform the precise hand movements.

Unlike the new or ordinary Mass, in the extraordinary Mass, priests face the altar, not the people. It appears as if the priest is turning his back to the congregation. But, Buccicone said, the purpose is for the priest to face God.

''The priest is facing liturgical east, facing towards God and he is acting as the mediator between God and man, therefore he leads the people into the sanctuary, then acts as the mediator," Buccicone said.

The extraordinary Mass is much different than the ordinary Mass in its silence and lack of response from the congregation.

There is no singing and the congregation does not respond to the priest vocally.

During Holy Communion, communicants must kneel at the rail and take Communion on their tongue.

No one is permitted to touch the host with their hands and the priest must not separate his thumb and forefinger when holding the host, to prevent any particle from falling. The communicant also does not say ''amen" after receiving the host.

Instead, the priest says ''May the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your soul unto everlasting life. Amen."

About 175 people attend the extraordinary Mass Sundays; some come from Lock Haven or Somerset.

The solemn Mass, which is said completely in Latin, attracts different types of people. While older Catholics enjoy it because it is the Mass of their youth; younger people, including some with families, appreciate the silence and mystery of the Mass.

''It's a matter of personal taste. Some will come for nostalgia sake. They remember it as the Mass of their youth.

"Others appreciate it on a very deep level. Low Mass is almost completely silent. Most of the prayers are being prayed with priests facing God. There is a sense of mystery. There's a sense of awe," Buccicone said.

Teresa Bentivegna of Ebensburg attends the extraordinary Mass at Queen of Peace, although she is a member of Holy Name Catholic Church in Ebensburg. She attends church alone while her husband watches her two young children.

''It's kind of my time. It's just very peaceful," Bentivegna said. ''In the world we live in we're surrounded by noise. It's my time with God because it's so peaceful and it totally envelops you without having to make an effort whatsoever."

When Ray Seymour of Loretto heard Buccicone was thinking about offering the Mass, he was excited.

''I had been encouraging it for 15 or 20 years. It's just great that it became available," said Seymour who teaches Latin at Bishop Carroll High School in Ebensburg. ''It's the Mass of my youth."

Because of his teaching background, Seymour understands the Latin Mass, but missals are provided to the congregation so people can follow it in English.

Seymour and Bentivegna enjoy the solemnity of the Mass, as well as the mystery.

''In the extraordinary form, I think the pressure is off the priest and the pressure is off the people. 

Sometimes I think we have the idea that the sacraments are something we do for God. In the extraordinary form, it's very evident that God does this for us," Seymour said.

Although Seymour and Bentivegna regularly attend Queen of Peace, they are not members of the church. The diocese does not want people to join Queen of Peace for the reason of the extraordinary Mass. Instead, Catholics are encouraged to join parishes in their communities.

Monsignor Michael Servinsky, vicar general for the diocese, said people should belong to churches in their territories so the priests can better help their members.

''That is in order for the pastor to know you and take care of you. The way the church is structured is you belong to the territory in which you live," Servinsky said.

Buccicone said another reason Catholics should not join Queen of Peace for the sole reason of extraordinary Mass is because he could be transferred at any time to a different parish or assigned back to the monastery.

''People could join here for the old rite and then it wouldn't be offered anymore," Buccicone said.

Anyone is welcome to attend the extraordinary Mass at 1 p.m. Sundays. On the first Sunday of the month, a high Mass is celebrated with choir singing and Gregorian chant. The other three Sundays, a low Mass is said, which is the more solemn Mass.

Fr. Boniface, OSB - Christopher West

Recently our Fr. Boniface Hicks attended the Head and  Heart Immersion Course which featured noted Catholic Speaker and Author: Christopher West.  Here are a few pics from the event.

Christopher West speaking about John Paul II's Theology of the Body 

Fr. Boniface with Christopher West -- Christopher is signing his book  Heaven's Song for Fr. Boniface

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A little more about Christopher West from (his website):

Christopher West is a research fellow and faculty member of the Theology of the Body Institute. He is also one of the most sought after speakers in the Church today, having delivered more than 1000 public lectures on 4 continents, in 9 countries, and in over 150 American cities. His books – Good News About Sex & Marriage, Theology of the Body Explained, and Theology of the Body for Beginners – have become Catholic best sellers.

Christopher has also lectured on a number of prestigious faculties, offering graduate and undergraduate courses at St John Vianney Seminary in Denver, the John Paul II Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and Creighton University’s Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha. Hundreds of thousands have heard him on national radio programs and even more have seen him defending the faith on programs such as Scarborough Country, Fox and Friends, and At Large with Geraldo Rivera. Of all his titles, Christopher is most proud to call himself a devoted husband and father. He and his wife Wendy have four children and live in Lancaster County, PA.

SVA Monk in Rome

Our Father Kurt Belsoe, OSB, former rector of St. Vincent Seminary is now the Director of Liturgical Formation at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.  The NAC is America's Seminary in the Eternal City.  Here are some pictures from their website of Fr. Kurt in action: 

Father Kurt (far Right) at the Blessing of the New Seminary field

 

Father Kurt (at St. Peter's Basilica) preparing for Diaconate Ordination

 

Father Kurt (Black Hood) preparing the Bishops prior to Holy Mass

 

Father Kurt (far left) praying before Mass

 

Father Kurt leading the procession into St. Peter's Basilica 

 

The Recessional Procession

 

 

Interesting Video

As we do for all young men preparing for the priesthood, let us keep Chase in our prayers.

Pope's Lenten Message 2009

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
BENEDICT XVI
FOR LENT 2009

"He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry" (Mt 4,1-2)

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

At the beginning of Lent, which constitutes an itinerary of more intense spiritual training, the Liturgy sets before us again three penitential practices that are very dear to the biblical and Christian tradition – prayer, almsgiving, fasting – to prepare us to better celebrate Easter and thus experience God’s power that, as we shall hear in the Paschal Vigil, “dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy, casts out hatred, brings us peace and humbles earthly pride” (Paschal Præconium). For this year’s Lenten Message, I wish to focus my reflections especially on the value and meaning of fasting. Indeed, Lent recalls the forty days of our Lord’s fasting in the desert, which He undertook before entering into His public ministry. We read in the Gospel: “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry” (Mt 4,1-2). Like Moses, who fasted before receiving the tablets of the Law (cf. Ex 34,28) and Elijah’s fast before meeting the Lord on Mount Horeb (cf. 1 Kings 19,8), Jesus, too, through prayer and fasting, prepared Himself for the mission that lay before Him, marked at the start by a serious battle with the tempter.

We might wonder what value and meaning there is for us Christians in depriving ourselves of something that in itself is good and useful for our bodily sustenance. The Sacred Scriptures and the entire Christian tradition teach that fasting is a great help to avoid sin and all that leads to it. For this reason, the history of salvation is replete with occasions that invite fasting. In the very first pages of Sacred Scripture, the Lord commands man to abstain from partaking of the prohibited fruit: “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gn 2, 16-17). Commenting on the divine injunction, Saint Basil observes that “fasting was ordained in Paradise,” and “the first commandment in this sense was delivered to Adam.” He thus concludes: “ ‘You shall not eat’ is a law of fasting and abstinence” (cf. Sermo de jejunio: PG 31, 163, 98). Since all of us are weighed down by sin and its consequences, fasting is proposed to us as an instrument to restore friendship with God. Such was the case with Ezra, who, in preparation for the journey from exile back to the Promised Land, calls upon the assembled people to fast so that “we might humble ourselves before our God” (8,21). The Almighty heard their prayer and assured them of His favor and protection. In the same way, the people of Nineveh, responding to Jonah’s call to repentance, proclaimed a fast, as a sign of their sincerity, saying: “Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish not?” (3,9). In this instance, too, God saw their works and spared them.

In the New Testament, Jesus brings to light the profound motive for fasting, condemning the attitude of the Pharisees, who scrupulously observed the prescriptions of the law, but whose hearts were far from God. True fasting, as the divine Master repeats elsewhere, is rather to do the will of the Heavenly Father, who “sees in secret, and will reward you” (Mt 6,18). He Himself sets the example, answering Satan, at the end of the forty days spent in the desert that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mt 4,4). The true fast is thus directed to eating the “true food,” which is to do the Father’s will (cf. Jn 4,34). If, therefore, Adam disobeyed the Lord’s command “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,” the believer, through fasting, intends to submit himself humbly to God, trusting in His goodness and mercy.

The practice of fasting is very present in the first Christian community (cf. Acts 13,3; 14,22; 27,21; 2 Cor 6,5). The Church Fathers, too, speak of the force of fasting to bridle sin, especially the lusts of the “old Adam,” and open in the heart of the believer a path to God. Moreover, fasting is a practice that is encountered frequently and recommended by the saints of every age. Saint Peter Chrysologus writes: “Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself” (Sermo 43: PL 52, 320. 322).

In our own day, fasting seems to have lost something of its spiritual meaning, and has taken on, in a culture characterized by the search for material well-being, a therapeutic value for the care of one’s body. Fasting certainly bring benefits to physical well-being, but for believers, it is, in the first place, a “therapy” to heal all that prevents them from conformity to the will of God. In the Apostolic Constitution Pænitemini of 1966, the Servant of God Paul VI saw the need to present fasting within the call of every Christian to “no longer live for himself, but for Him who loves him and gave himself for him … he will also have to live for his brethren“ (cf. Ch. I). Lent could be a propitious time to present again the norms contained in the Apostolic Constitution, so that the authentic and perennial significance of this long held practice may be rediscovered, and thus assist us to mortify our egoism and open our heart to love of God and neighbor, the first and greatest Commandment of the new Law and compendium of the entire Gospel (cf. Mt 22, 34-40).

The faithful practice of fasting contributes, moreover, to conferring unity to the whole person, body and soul, helping to avoid sin and grow in intimacy with the Lord. Saint Augustine, who knew all too well his own negative impulses, defining them as “twisted and tangled knottiness” (Confessions, II, 10.18), writes: “I will certainly impose privation, but it is so that he will forgive me, to be pleasing in his eyes, that I may enjoy his delightfulness” (Sermo 400, 3, 3: PL 40, 708). Denying material food, which nourishes our body, nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by His saving word. Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.

At the same time, fasting is an aid to open our eyes to the situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live. In his First Letter, Saint John admonishes: “If anyone has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, yet shuts up his bowels of compassion from him – how does the love of God abide in him?” (3,17). Voluntary fasting enables us to grow in the spirit of the Good Samaritan, who bends low and goes to the help of his suffering brother (cf. Encyclical Deus caritas est, 15). By freely embracing an act of self-denial for the sake of another, we make a statement that our brother or sister in need is not a stranger. It is precisely to keep alive this welcoming and attentive attitude towards our brothers and sisters that I encourage the parishes and every other community to intensify in Lent the custom of private and communal fasts, joined to the reading of the Word of God, prayer and almsgiving. From the beginning, this has been the hallmark of the Christian community, in which special collections were taken up (cf. 2 Cor 8-9; Rm 15, 25-27), the faithful being invited to give to the poor what had been set aside from their fast (Didascalia Ap., V, 20,18). This practice needs to be rediscovered and encouraged again in our day, especially during the liturgical season of Lent.

From what I have said thus far, it seems abundantly clear that fasting represents an important ascetical practice, a spiritual arm to do battle against every possible disordered attachment to ourselves. Freely chosen detachment from the pleasure of food and other material goods helps the disciple of Christ to control the appetites of nature, weakened by original sin, whose negative effects impact the entire human person. Quite opportunely, an ancient hymn of the Lenten liturgy exhorts: “Utamur ergo parcius, / verbis cibis et potibus, / somno, iocis et arctius / perstemus in custodia – Let us use sparingly words, food and drink, sleep and amusements. May we be more alert in the custody of our senses.”

Dear brothers and sisters, it is good to see how the ultimate goal of fasting is to help each one of us, as the Servant of God Pope John Paul II wrote, to make the complete gift of self to God (cf. Encyclical Veritatis splendor, 21). May every family and Christian community use well this time of Lent, therefore, in order to cast aside all that distracts the spirit and grow in whatever nourishes the soul, moving it to love of God and neighbor. I am thinking especially of a greater commitment to prayer, lectio divina, recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and active participation in the Eucharist, especially the Holy Sunday Mass. With this interior disposition, let us enter the penitential spirit of Lent. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Causa nostrae laetitiae, accompany and support us in the effort to free our heart from slavery to sin, making it evermore a “living tabernacle of God.” With these wishes, while assuring every believer and ecclesial community of my prayer for a fruitful Lenten journey, I cordially impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 11 December 2008.