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I hope everyone who has EWTN was able to watch the Pontifical High Mass in the Extraordinary Form, offered today for Pope Benedict XVI at the Washington Basilica. It has just ended - two and a half hours of a most solemn and beautiful Eucharistic Sacrifice with the participation of a full cathedral (seating capacity 3,500).
The commentator said people flew in from other states to attend it - it was impressive to see them at Communion, kneeling at the basilica's communion rail, many women wearing veils or some sort of head covering. Mons. Slattery must have spent at least half an hour giving Communion (Other priests gave Communion to those who did not come to the Communion rail).
Fr. Zuhlsdorf was one of the commentators, along with a priest from the FSSP, which also provided the deacons who assisted Mons. Edward Slattery of Tulsa in the celebration. Mons. Slattery was magnificent, singing the Latin prayers in a robust baritone, and enunciating them beautifully, whether he was speaking or singing, with the added gift of a splendid homily on the mystery of suffering, as a significant reflection on the Holy Father's fifth anniversary. The Basilica's Schola Cantorum provided appropriate choral music all throughout.
I found myself in tears many times, considering that this was the first Traditional Mass said in this Basilica in 45 years! - and therefore, the first time its High Altar was used for Mass in all that time. The whole panoply of clerics assisting in the Mass, and the sight of them kneeling reverently as the celebrant offered the Body and Blood of Christ in front of a very well-placed Crucifix on the High Altar sent shivers down my spine - so reminiscent it is of all those images we have always seen going back to Gregory the Great saying Mass.
Naturally, I wonder when Pope Benedict XVI will consider it the right time and the right occasion to celebrate the Extraordinary Form himself in pbulic - could he be waiting for the third anniversary of Summorum Pontificum (either July 7 when he promulagted it, or Sept. 14, when it came into force)? That would be a most special event.
Some pictures:
Below, Interior of the Basilica, and right, the High Altar.
The following videocaps courtesy of
Above panel, clockwise from top left: Vesting prayers; Entrance procession; the congregation; and prayers at the foot of the Altar.
In right bottom photo, note the liturgical gloves worn by Mons. Slattery.
A background to the Mass today. This is how the Paulus Institute described their special project:
The Paulus Institute invites you to participate in an historic liturgical event in honor of Pope Benedict XVI, under the theme of “The Spirit of the Liturgy.”
We have arranged to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Pope Benedict’s inauguration with a Pontifical Solemn Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington DC, April 24, 2010, at 1 p.m. His Excellency, Edward Slattery, the bishop of Tula, Oklahoma will celebrate the mass from the throne according to the rubrics of the Extraordinary Form.
The Mass will be offered in the Extraordinary Form (Traditional Latin Mass), as encouraged by Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict. It will be the first such Mass said at the High Altar of the Shrine in nearly half a century. The priests of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter will assist at the Mass.
The National Shrine is the largest Catholic church in the Western Hemisphere and among the ten largest in the world. The Shrine seats 3,500, with a total capacity of 6,500. We will be announcing the Mass to Catholics not only regionally, but throughout the Eastern U.S. and beyond.
To honor His Holiness Pope Benedict on this special day, we are especially encouraging those Catholics to come who may not already know this Mass. In particular, we are inviting young adults and university students, whom Pope Benedict has recognized are attracted to the Mass in the Extraordinary form.
Consistent with the mission of The Paulus Institute, this Mass is an activity undertaken with our signature objective: to have broad impact in the Catholic Church, as our patron St. Paul inspires.
The Mass is presented for all the Catholic Faithful. We strive to enhance the appreciation of the Mass as Holy Sacrifice, to build respect for the Holy Eucharist, and to solidify belief in the Real Presence. As Pope Benedict has written—
“The Church stands and falls with the Liturgy. When the adoration of the divine Trinity declines, when the faith no longer appears in its fullness on the Liturgy of the Church, when man’s words, his thoughts, his intentions are suffocating him, then faith will have lost the place where it is expressed and where it dwells. For that reason, the true celebration of the Sacred Liturgy is the centre of any renewal of the Church whatever.”
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 26/04/2010 19:04] |