Andrew Burch 🇻🇦

“Do you think liturgical unity is as important today as it used to be?” I don’t think strict uniformity throughout the Latin Church is desirable, but is something like Summorum Pontificum the ideal to aim for in the long run? Might it be better for the Curial/Tridentine Use and the Use of St. Paul VI to inhabit distinct ecclesiastical spheres (much like the uses of Braga, Lyon, the Dominicans, the Carthusians, etc.)? If future editions of the Roman liturgical books stand in clearer continuity with the Tridentine Use AND preserve what’s most valuable about the modern form, will there be any need for the “ordinary and extraordinary forms” as they stand today? I’m really not sure. “Is that something that can be more or less important, across time and given the unique challenges of various eras? I think the answer to the second question is yes.” I agree. “I wonder if the challenges posed by the modern era demand more emphasis on unity in doctrine and dogma over-and-above liturgy…” Quite possibly. The words of Pope Benedict come to mind: “Let us generously open our hearts and make room for everything that the faith itself allows.”

This seems right to me. Here's another thought I've had, though... Do you think liturgical unity is as important today as it used to be? Is that something that can be more or less important, across time and given the unique challenges of various eras? I think the answer to the second question is yes, and I wonder if the challenges posed by the modern era demand more emphasis on unity in doctrine and dogma over-and-above liturgy – especially insofar as the lay are consuming more of their spiritual "content" from sources delivered to them via personalized algorithm. At the end of the day, parishes all around the world are already segregating by language and culture. And insofar as this is the multicultural world we live in now, I wonder if the higher priority is sound doctrine and teaching (above unity in liturgy). Pope Leo recently said the liturgy should not be something we fight about. On one hand, that can mean we ought to have more unity. But on the other, It could just as well mean we ought to have more "freedom." (Liturgy and doctrine are not mutually exclusive things, of course. They both contribute to each other's richness. But I hope my point is getting through.)

Eventually you have to ask yourself whether you're more Catholic than you are "trad." There's a point at which trad ideology draws a hard line. Either you're in this small, obscure "Church within the Church" that is somehow better than 99% of all Catholics, or you're not. There's something apocalyptic about believing that 99% of Catholics are lost, fallen, wrong, demon-possessed, or whatever. It's a dark worldview that seems to have a poisonous effect on the spirit. Even if there are valid critiques to be made of the Novus Ordo, the Second Vatican Council, or the many post-council teachings that muddied the waters, this idea that the ONLY way to Christ is through a handful of scattered Latin Mass communities cuts away at the universality of the one true Church. It also distracts from the reality that so many non-TLM, ordinary run-of-the-mill Parishes are experiencing a genuine revival in the Liturgy. I travel constantly and am constantly at Novus Ordo Masses -- more and more people are receiving on the knee, on the tongue, more and more young Priests are saying parts of the Mass in Latin, using incense, even doing Ad Orientem. This is the direction that everyday Catholicism is heading, and it can be hard to see it from within the trad TLM world. Nothing wrong with preferring the Latin Mass at all. But to ever be so trad that you'd deny the validity of the Novus Ordo, speak ill of the Pope, or have this doom-and-gloom mentality about the state of the Church? This is usually not good, not warranted, and I invite those who feel that way to come out into the wider Church to see the amazing changes taking place. If the average trad were to visit 25 random Novus Ordo Churches around the country, I think they'd be surprised at what they'd see. It may not look quite like LifeSiteNews would say it'd look -- and it definitely wouldn't look the way it did 15 or even 5 years ago.

@b0rtcask1 @pluant Yeah, there’s almost certainly no room for a Rosary if you’re singing all the proper chants!

@AndrewBurch14 @pluant Most of the High Masses I've attended recently I was in the schola lol. Also, I understand Latin so that's kinda distracting if I'm trying to pray the rosary during Mass. Usually I whisper into my beads if there's bad acoustics and I can't hear anything.

It’s cultural prejudicial, but it’s also this odd legalism where absolutely everything must be codified, with a right way and a wrong way and naught else.

@b0rtcask1 @pluant There’s enough time for it at a High Mass (so long as you don’t worry about following all the silent prayers of the priest) even if you sing all your parts of the Ordinary and follow the readings + audible prayers.

@pluant I'm surprised people are even arguing about praying the rosary at Mass in 2026. I can't pray the rosary at Mass unless it's a TLM Low Mass, too much going on. Being able to do it at the modern vernacular Mass seems like exceptional multi-tasking / focus / locking in.

But he also says "the needs and inclinations of all are not the same, nor are they always constant in the same individual." Does this not imply that even someone who is capable of singing the chants, following the readings, and so on might sometimes legitimately choose another method of participation? This is specifically in the context of the old rite, which does not have many rubrics for the laity (and has none in the Ordo Missae if I remember correctly).

@chesterbelloc3 At most this disagrees with the adjective "inappropriate" it seems to be intended to read that those without means do what they must, but if you are able then you should participate in the mass in the ordinary way

On the one hand you have gratuitous assertions without any authority whatsoever, by those who make their own ignorance the standard of judgment. On the other you have Pope Pius XII in Mediator Dei, n. 108. /1

@NickFreiling @shagbark_hick I don't think the modern celebration of the TLM is a fad, but I also don't see it spreading like wildfire anytime soon unless the hierarchy gives it strong support and generous room is made for the vernacular.

"...a liturgical restorationism, convinced that the 'real thing' was lost and only a small remnant has preserved it." I’d say TLM communities really ARE preserving a something of great value (the “Franco-Roman” liturgical tradition of the Middle Ages), but they certainly have no exclusive claim to the true Faith, and the usus recentior is a legitimate good (a “real thing”) as well.

@samuel_cath @shagbark_hick @latinafemcel And it's because you ARE at a fully Catholic service! I greatly appreciate the TLM and attend it most Sundays, but the NO is magnificent in its own right, and churches like the London Oratory do a great job of drawing out its richness.

I feel like a lot of hardcore trads gaslight people into believing the NO is such a horrific thing. I prefer TLM, but the NO is fine tbh. I don’t see what the fuss is about. Sure there’s some cringey aspects in many places, but I still feel like I’m at a fully Catholic service and feel a brotherhood with the people there. Some trads are just scrooges.

Indeed. The new form of the Mass, offered by a priest in good standing and in conformity with the laws of the Church, doesn't run into those problems--there's nothing about the modern lectionary, the new Offertory, or the omission of Ember days that violates Divine (or ecclesiastical) Law--but if (God forbid!) a priest decides to ride in on a scooter, skip straight to the consecration, then throw in a few secular pop songs, we shouldn't say "Christ is present, so nothing's wrong."

@RFTeague @shagbark_hick Jesus is present when a valid priest says a Black Mass or when an Old Catholic or Anglican with a Roman touch says Mass too.

Natalie’s dad, baptized this Easter. There’s the smile of 85 years of sin washed away in an instant! Alleluia. :) HAPPY EASTER!

That’s generally what I do, but I’ve found that a sung or solemn Mass in the old rite gives one enough time to pray a Rosary even if he chants all his parts of the Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, dialogues) and pays attention to the readings, proper chants, and publicly audible prayers.

@pluant They may have a better sense than I do, but still I'll stick to praying Rosary before Mass.

No, it’s not “against church teaching.” The little old ladies praying rosaries during Mass probably have a better sense of what’s going on than most.

@paynenotes1 @ClarkeMicah @TimGuile I think they’re just being specific (or, as is often the case, they were already Christian).

@ClarkeMicah @TimGuile I notice people who become Catholic, say they have converted to Catholicism rather than say they converted to Christianity. That seems odd to me. Many Catholics on X seem to be boastful about their buildings, art or claimed authenticity, yet have some odd anachronisms.🤔

.@timguile. I am not a Roman Catholic, for reasons I have many times publicly explained, so please don’t badger me in this sectarian way . I have attended mainstream RC services out of interest, and found them as banal as modernised C of E services. The Latin Mass, for different, does not appeal to me.

Pope Leo XIV remembers persecuted Christians on Easter Monday: “Just as the Risen One, ever alive and present, frees the past from a destructive end, so the Easter message redeems our future from the tomb. Dearest ones, how important it is that this Gospel reach especially those oppressed by evil, which corrupts history and confuses consciences! I think of peoples tormented by war, of Christians persecuted for their faith, of children deprived of education. Proclaiming Christ's Easter in word and deed means giving new voice to hope, otherwise stifled in the hands of the violent. Indeed, when proclaimed in the world, the Good News illuminates every shadow, in every age.”

On this Easter Monday, let us remember Pope Francis and pray for his soul. May he Rest In Peace.

Pope Leo XIV at the Easter Vigil: “Man can kill the body, but the life of the God of love is eternal life, which goes beyond death and which no tomb can imprison.”

Explainer: The Good Friday Reproaches are a series of antiphons, known also as the “Improperia” or “Popule Meus” (“My People”), coming from the opening lines of the Latin text of the recitation. bit.ly/4vbeRdL

I understand that some people might be upset that Pope Leo will wash the feet of clergy on Holy Thursday, remembering that Pope Francis washed the feet of people largely considered outcasts. Please consider, though, that Pope Leo’s decision is meant to be a lesson for the priests. Christ washed the feet of the Apostles and told them to do likewise. Christ’s vicar now washes the feet of the priests and tells them to do likewise. This action is an exhortation to humble service. Surely we can all agree that this is a good lesson for any cleric.

Pope Leo XIV addressing Arabic-speaking pilgrims at his General Audience today: “I greet the Arabic speaking faithful, as the feast of Easter approaches, let us pray for the sick, the poor, and the innocent victims of war. That Christ, by His resurrection, may grant peace and consolation to all. May the Lord bless you all, and always protect you from every evil.”

@IsFullOfGrace @Trident_93 @pjgurry If these priests exercised only their own power, they’d forgive nothing. But we have the words of Christ: “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.” (John 20:23)

@Trident_93 @pjgurry Confessing to a pedo priest doesn't absolve you of anything. Your repentance is to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Sin is dealt with only at the Cross. Your Mary is a demon. Those priests are men and forgive nothing.

Just a reminder that complete Bibles are extremely rare for much of Christian history because, as you can see from this pictures of the 7th c. Codex Amiatinus, they were massive. This one happens to be the oldest surviving complete copy of Jerome’s Latin Vulgate.

@_ThePapist @CatholicSat I don’t think it would be prudent to start the process, but it wouldn’t prove anything unless we were certain he’s in hell. I hope he’s in heaven!

@CatholicSat For a sec, I was like, "that proves canonizations are not infallible." I hope no one is ever foolish enough to ever start this process.

Pope Francis is officially on the Road to Sainthood. Vatican waves normal 5-year wait and opens the process for the beatification of the 'Humble Pope of the Poor'