Pope Francis and the Franciscans of the Immaculate

A round up of blog posts and articles regarding Pope Francis' instruction to the Franciscans of the Immaculate:

Canterbury Tales

Father Z's Blog

Rorate Caeli

The Eponymous Flower

Catholic News Agency

The New Liturgical Movement (text of Pope's letter to the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate)

Unam Sanctam Catholicam

Participation in Mass

From the New Liturgical Movement comes an article that delves into what it means to participate in Mass. The deficient understanding that constitutes so much of what is seen in the Novus Ordo Mass today is rebuked here. It seems as if the NO Mass has been infantilized, as if the laity has been determined to be unwilling or unable to understand what must be understood if full participation is to be achieved; and, as if participation has come to mean something entirely different than it meant before. Do set aside a little time to read it all. From the article:

The difference between participation in the liturgy that can be called activa and participation that can be labelled actuosa rests in the presence in the soul of the baptismal character, the seal that grants one the right to participate. Without the baptismal mark, all the actions of singing, walking, kneeling or anything else can be termed "active," but they do not constitute participatio actuosa. Only the baptismal character can make any actions truly participatory. Let us use an example. Let us say that a pious Hindu attends Mass, takes part in the singing and even walks in a procession with great piety. In the same church is also a Catholic who is blind and deaf and who is unable to leave his chair; he can neither sing nor hear the readings nor walk in the procession. Which one has truly participated, the one who is very active, or the one who has confined himself solely to his thoughts of adoration? Obviously, it is the baptized Catholic who has exercised participatio actuosa despite his lack of external, physical movement. The Hindu even with his many actions has not been capable of it, since he lacks the baptismal character.

A Meditation

For more of the above see below:

July 21, 2013 at St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church, Corning.