Next Sunday, Fr. William Avis will be visiting and celebrating the 8:00 Mass. He was just ordained for the Institute this Summer. As I mentioned before, Fr. Talarico, who was also ordained in June, was a student at St. Gregory's Academy when I first met him. His hair seems to be grey in color, but I think it is just the lighting.
[Edit: apparently that url for SGA is to a trial website that is incomplete; here is the new website. Fr. Tom Longua, FSSP is apparently still at the academy.]
Photos from the ordination, showing the priests of the Institute in their distinctive choir dress:
(Larger and therefore of better quality than the ones in the newsletter.)
Blue was chosen to symbolize their dedication to Our Lady under the title of the Immaculate Conception.
As I expected the 8:00 was a low Mass. Like Our Lady of Peace, there is an American flag and a papal flag by the sides of the altar, in the sanctuary-- I wish this custom would be dropped, especially if it contributes to a false nationalism. But even if it doesn't, I don't think flags representing secular entities should be in the sanctuary. Outside the building or in the vestibule, that would be different. I have not seen this custom observed in other coutnries. (I can't remember if the Christendom College chapel observed this as well--I think it did.)
From the website for the chapel I find out that there is a High Mass on Sunday, but at 5:30 PM. That's a bit late in the day. Still, maybe I should go and see what the schola is like.
I don't think I will be going to the chapel regularly, especially if the High Mass is that late--the low Mass isn't a good fit for a liturgical spirituality that is based on the sung liturgy as the norm. And besides... there is the question of the liturgical language. While I see the value of retaining Latin as a sacred language, I think it is more appropriate within certain cultures (i.e. nations speaking a Romance language). I have been persuaded by those who would argue that the hieratic language of the liturgy should be [somewhat] intelligible to the faithful upon hearing.
[One such advocate would be Archimandrite Serge Keleher -- here is a discussion of the current controversy regarding inclusive language and translations within the Ruthenian rite: Serge Keleher: Studies on the Byzantine Liturgy – 1 - The ... -- page 1 of the discussion; here is a response by Fr. David Petras on his website to Fr. Keleher.
Title: Studies on the Byzantine Liturgy – 1
The Draft Translation: A Response to the Proposed Recasting of the Byzantine-Ruthenian Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
Stauropegion Press
P.O. Box 11096
Pittsburgh, PA 15237-9998
Cost: $20 + $4 per book shipping & handling.
On the Orthodox tradition and Catholicity]
Then there is the culture of communities that are gathered around the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. It is hard to describe it--stuck in the 50s may give one an idea of how the members dress, but it may not reflect their beliefs accurately. I wonder if such communities are different in the South? At any rate, it is somewhat of an uncomfortable fit, and I do not think my judgment regarding my own vocation was wrong.
I'll check out St. Thomas Aquinas in Palo Alto and the St. Ann Choir one of these Sundays, but I don't think I will be going there frequently--Palo Alto is just too far. At this point I will be looking at the Byzantine rite--St. Basil in Los Gatos and maybe St. Elias as well. Yes, I'm still a liturgical tourist, just like Dr. Pinto.
(Another NLM post on the St. Ann Choir.)
Byzantine Catholic Church in America
My mother and I then drove up to San Francisco to take yeh yeh ma ma to lunch to celebrate yeh yeh's birthday. Of course we went to Emperor Palace again. Why would anyone want to go to a different Cantonese restaurant in SF? (Unless they want something with a fancy interior.) Then we went to Clement gai to get some dim sum. The second SF Chinatown is busy on Sunday--no parking places, plenty of Asian drivers.
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