Tridentine Community News

Tridentine Community News (July 17, 2011):

External Solemnity of Ste. Anne Next Sunday

Earlier this year, the Vatican designated Ste. Anne, the mother of Our Lady, as the patroness of the Archdiocese of Detroit. This is fitting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is because the oldest parish in the Archdiocese was named in her honor. Ste. Anne de Detroit Parish survives to this day: Run by the Basilian Fathers, it is located at the Detroit end of the Ambassador Bridge and is the sister parish to the similarly Basilian-run Assumption Church at the Windsor end of the bridge.

Ste. Anne’s Feast Day this year in both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms is Tuesday, July 26. On that Tuesday, a High Mass for the Feast of Ste. Anne will be celebrated at Windsor’s Assumption Church at the usual time of 7:00 PM.In Detroit, however, St. Josaphat Church will be taking advantage of a provision in the rubrics for External Solemnities. St. Josaphat’s 9:30 AM Mass on Sunday, July 24 will be for the External Solemnity of Ste. Anne. Tridentine rubrics allow the Feast of the patron saint of a diocese to be moved to the nearest Sunday. As far as we know, St. Josaphat will be the only Tridentine Mass in the Archdiocese of Detroit to celebrate the Mass of Ste. Anne on the Sunday. Veneration of the relic of Ste. Anne will follow the Mass, and a reception will be held in the Parish Hall afterwards.

New Handbell Set Donated

St. Josaphat has a new set of Sanctus Bells to be used at the altar. Many thanks to Kay Welllington, who made the donation in memory of Richard Wellington. This set is more visually appealing than our older set, and its louder sound is more easily audible in the back of the church.

Altar Rails Making a Comeback

The National Catholic Register newspaper published an article on June 2, 2011 concerning the return of Communion Rails to Catholic churches, in both new construction and renovations. Citing both the Holy Father’s example in only distributing Holy Communion to the faithful while kneeling, as well as the resurgence in popularity of the Tridentine Mass since the Holy Father’s 2007 Motu Proprio, Summórum Pontíficum, the article quotes a number of pastors who have added altar rails in recent years. Mundelein (Illinois) Seminary Professor of Architecture Denis McNamara offers the following thought: “...there is a theology of the rail, one which sees it as more than a fence, but as a marker where heaven and earth meet, where the priest, acting in persona Christi, reaches across from heaven to earth to give the Eucharist as the gift of divine life.” The full article may be read at: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/altar-rails-returning-to-use/


It is no longer reasonable – or rational – for diocesan building authorities to prohibit the construction of such liturgical elements, given the rulings, speeches, and examples coming from Rome. It is clear that current legislation supports priests’ right to celebrate the Extraordinary Form, and that right, in turn, conveys a subordinate right to outfit a church appropriately for this liturgy.

Corrections and Clarifications

In our February 6, 2011 column, it was mentioned that the post-Vatican II version of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary edited by Fr. John Rotelle and available from Catholic Book Publishing had not received Vatican approval and thus could not be used for public celebrations. A reader referred us to a page on the web site of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on which it is stated that this book “is approved for use in the dioceses of the United States of America.”

Regarding beeswax candles, books for the Extraordinary Form say that for regular, non-Requiem Masses, candles made of a majority of beeswax are to be used. Fortescue’s Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described says that these candles should be 65% beeswax. In today’s marketplace, 65% beeswax candles are not available; the standard has become 51% beeswax, which certainly qualifies as majority beeswax. This is an example of how we need to be realistic when it comes to liturgical standards.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

Mon. 07/18 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (St. Camillus de Lellis, Confessor)

Tue. 07/19 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Assumption-Windsor (St. Vincent de Paul, Confessor)

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@stjosaphatchurch.org. Previous columns are available at www.stjosaphatchurch.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat bulletin insert for July 17, 2011. Hat tip to A.B.]