“Cheap but Worthy”

Clerical Whispers reports that parishes in England and Wales will have to buy an interim version of the Missal to use between September and Advent. “Martin Foster, the acting secretary of the liturgy office of the Bishops of England and Wales said that The Catholic Truth Society (CTS) would produce a ‘cheap but worthy’ Missal to be used at the altar for the three months between the introduction of the new Order of Mass and the publication of the full Missal.”

The Order of Mass will be made available as a pdf download, for the faithful. A new lectionary remains in the distant future.

You can read the whole sorry tale here.

Editor

Katharine E. Harmon, Ph.D., edits the blog, Pray Tell: Worship, Wit & Wisdom.

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Comments

38 responses to ““Cheap but Worthy””

  1. Jeffrey Pinyan

    Ugh, bad idea, and it will only add fuel to the “expense” fire.

    Reply
  2. Tom Poelker

    Cheap but worthy?

    How expensive a three-ring binder is that?

    Reply
  3. Michael Barnett

    I’m in favor of the new translation, but even I think this is a bad idea.

    Reply
    1. Chris Grady

      Are you “in favor of” Preface II of Lent which talks about your “disordered affections”?

      Reply
      1. Michael Barnett

        I have several disordered affections (and I’m sure you do too) that need the grace of Lent to root them out of my soul! It’s good to get a yearly reminder. Thank God for the Liturgical Year!

        It sure would have been nice, though, to have a kind of pre-Lenten season to get ready for the rigors of Lent. I hear they used to do that back in the days of St Gregory the Great. Oops! I guess Archbishop Bugnini got rid of that, too.

      2. Fritz Bauerschmidt

        I am not sure why “disordered affections” seems so self-evidently ridiculous a phrase.

  4. Samuel J. Howard

    Of course Liturgical Press publishes the Lectionary in this format.

    Reply
  5. Gerard Flynn

    It may allow those responsible to remove the more egregiously glaring mistakes which have failed to be detected, before the more ‘permanent’ books are printed – a sort of piloting of the new material.

    Reply
  6. Paul Inwood

    Apparently ‘cheap’ means inexpensive, rather than unworthy. £10 is the amount quoted….

    Reply
    1. Fritz Bauerschmidt

      That was my understanding of “cheap” in the strange English you British people speak.

      Reply
  7. Cody C. Unterseher

    At first glance, I thought the headline was in reference to the church building that may be offered by the Diocese of Westminster to the Personal Ordinariate of our Lady of Walsingham, as reported on by the “Liturgical Pimpernel” here.

    Cheap but. . . worthy, I suppose. So much for neo-Gothic.

    Reply
  8. Chris Grady

    Isn’t this great!

    Serves them all right – and wait till they find out how interim the “final” one turns out to be!

    Reply
  9. Janet Darcy

    FINALLY, someone is listening to me! I can see it now. Given its transitory nature, perhaps the cover of the three ring binder could have just “Da Mass” on it.

    It will not be long before the smoke can be seen on the horizon with the unsinkable liturgy setting sail for parts unknown, but outcome certain. Take it from Janet, keep “ole faithful” nearby, and make room in the extreme bottom drawer in the sacristy for the binder and the new chapel edition red book.

    Reply
  10. Gregg Smith

    We have a binder with the 1998 edition in it. Ready to go.

    Reply
  11. Gerard Flynn

    I received this flyer today from Veritas, the Irish bishops’ publishing house:

    “Don’t Delay! Order your Roman Missal today and avail of this special offer. Buy Altar Edition And Small Edition: Small edition suitable of use at the Chair. Normal Price €300.00/£257.50 – Our Price €249.00/£215.00

    Don’t be tempted by other offers – this is all you will need.”

    No irony intended.

    Reply
  12. George Lynch

    My parish, Achill in Co. Mayo, Ireland, has 9 (nine) churches. How can this cost be justified? €2,700 for Missals ( $3,784) No one should be tempted!

    Reply
    1. Michael Barnett

      No problem, George. Just take money from the parish Liturgical Dance account and use it to buy Missals. 🙂

      Reply
      1. George Lynch

        O.K. Michael, I’ll tell the priests, but it is a real problem for small rural parishes who don’t have the luxury of large accounts.
        As it is, I think the ‘Cry brightness’ committee have led us a merry dance! (The online translators of Latin to English tell me ‘vox clara’ means ‘cry brightness’. Was it used for the translations?

        .

      2. Paul Inwood

        It actually means “clear voice”, or, if translating according to the rules of Liturgiam Authenticam, “voice clear”…..

      3. Jeremy Stevens

        Since there hasn’t been liturgical dance at more than a fraction of parishes throughout the world, why not take the Missal money from a more common resource: the rectory liquor bill; the Pastor’s winter or summer vacation outside the continental US bill; or maybe he could sell his Waterford crystal, greca, or spare Gamarrelli cassock and fascia. All items more common than liturgical dance.

      4. Michael Barnett

        Jeremy Stevens,

        How can you think it’s ok to calumniate the priests at this parish!

        You’ve implicitly accused these priests of intemperance, exotic taste, and vanity.

        Besides, I’m very traditional and hang around traditionalists and I’ve only seen one greca in my lifetime.

      5. Jeremy Stevens

        Michael Barnett: I think Vox Clara’s twisted syntax and awkward constructions are getting to you. You’re getting your antecedents mixed up. I wasn’t referring to any particular parish or its priests. Around these parts, there are lots of rectories where the finest liquor is served, two major vacations per year are standard for the clergy, and the clerical clothing is all strictly import. And that’s the younger priests. Go to a famous blog and do a search for 2007 and pictures that were solicited of Summorum Pontificum celebrations. Lots of young clergy toasting and sporting fine cigars. No anorexia in evidence either. The Missal funding suggestions were just an attempt to point out that frivolous use of donated money is not the exclusive flaw of either side of the liturgical divide.

      6. Michael Barnett

        Just having a little fun, Jeremy.

        Fr Ruff accused me of calumny in another thread. I don’t really think your calumniating.

        But while were at it, I don’t see the guys in cassocks and toasting to SP griping about the cost of the new Missals. I was griping about ten years ago when the USCCB published a new multivolume Lectionary and made its use mandatory. The Vatican’s not the only Church organization causing poor parishes to spend lots of money.

  13. Jonathan Day

    My personal target for ecclesiastical cost cutting is the recent trend toward clown masses. Think of the money that could be saved if churches stopped buying circus apparel.

    Reply
    1. Janet Darcy

      Its going towards Easter, not Halloween!! Oh Jonathan, take it from Janet, you have a future in comedy!

      Reply
    2. Fritz Bauerschmidt

      My, doesn’t the cardinal look . . . silly.

      Reply
    3. Jeffrey Pinyan

      He never looks particularly happy, either, no matter what he’s wearing.

      I wasn’t ever much of a fan of the extravagant and expensive trappings of the upper echelon. I respect and appreciate beautiful (and even, from time to time, lavish) vestments for liturgical actions. But the seemingly ever-growing wardrobe of cardinals seems a waste of time, money, effort, and attention. They don’t need different outfits for every day of the month!

      Reply
  14. Jeremy Stevens

    Is Cardinal Burke the one on the right (hehe) in this scene?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPIOYW5R39w&feature=youtube_gdata_player

    Reply
    1. Fritz Bauerschmidt

      He is definitely the one in the middle.

      Reply
    2. Michael Barnett

      I know from experience that Cardinal Burke is a good and holy man. He is nothing like the cardinals in your clip.

      (I am happy, however, to see someone who is a fan of Becket!)

      Reply
      1. F C Bauerschmidt

        The resemblance was more sartorial than spiritual.

      2. Jeremy Stevens

        The consecration scene in Becket is beautifully done. Nice compromise, I think, the principal consecrator pointing to the Latin words in the Pontificale but reading his lines in English …. was that Pontificale in fact borrowed from a museum, as I was told? Of course, the excommunication scene was spectacular (though I’m told the Dies Irae had not been written – words or chant – in Becket’s time): a liturgy too infrequently used, in my opinion 🙂 Someone told me the students from the Venerable College sang the Veni Sancte Spiritus for the opening of the film.

        For a similar galero, see the Steve Perry video, O Sherry, one of the infant MTV’s only videos …. back in the day …

      3. Bill deHaas

        Mr. Barnett – we really do need to make a distinction between passing personal judgment on an individual and making judgments about those who are in leadership especially bishops, curia, cardinals. Pastors/bishops/curia have accepted a responsibility and are accountable for their actions and decisions. To avoid this task is to live in denial. Most historians would cite Burke’s role in St. Louis as a failure – Romanita intervened and he was ‘promoted” up and out.

        Cardinal Burke (IMO) has made decisions liturgically and ecclesiologically that appear to express his own interpretation of the church and especially Vatican II. The fathers of VII saw accidentals such as the cappa magna as an area for reform. Burke’s decisions all too often seem to serve only to reinforce the scandal of our times – cultural wars and increased polarizations; condemnation and alienation. One may say (as you do) that he is a good and holy man but the church has been diminished throughout history by “good/holy” men who made unwise and wrong decisions. He may actually believe that his decisions are correct – that is between Burke and his god but as a curial leader, his actions must be open to analysis, critique, and evaluation.

        Here is an article by Kennedy about bishops/cardinals such as Burke – http://www.ncronline.org/blogs/bulletins-human-side/weigels-attack-smokescreen-0

        Point:

        Burke was made by Cardinal Law – he is part of his coterie. “Law has come a long way along the yellow brick clerical road from Cape Girardeau-Springfield but he now has no place to go and nothing to do but lives sadly on among the ruins of Rome and of his own career while still trying to run the American Catholic church for whose wounds he bears no small amount of responsibility.”

        Eventually, this translation and its cost will also be a part of history – good or bad.

  15. Samuel J. Howard

    The fathers of VII saw accidentals such as the cappa magna as an area for reform.

    The cappa magna is in the current Ceremonial of Bishops. You may not like it, but it’s a legitimate option in according to both the 1962 books and the revised books.

    Reply
  16. Michael Barnett

    deHaas: “Most historians would cite Burke’s role in St. Louis as a failure – Romanita intervened and he was ‘promoted” up and out.”

    Response: Which historians? How many? How many think the opposite?
    That which is gratuitously asserted is gratuitously denied.

    deHaas: “Cardinal Burke (IMO) has made decisions liturgically and ecclesiologically that appear to express his own interpretation of the church and especially Vatican II.”

    Response: So has Cardinal Mahony; so did Cardinal Bernardin; so has Pope Benedict.

    deHaas: “The fathers of VII saw accidentals such as the cappa magna as an area for reform.”

    Response: Do you have any evidence to support your assertion?
    That which is gratuitously asserted is gratuitously denied.

    deHaas: “He may actually believe that his decisions are correct – that is between Burke and his god but as a curial leader, his actions must be open to analysis, critique, and evaluation.”

    Response: I agree, but, if you recall, my post was in response to Jeremy Stevens and Fritz comparing Burke to the corrupt cardinals depicted in the film clip posted by Jeremy Stevens.

    Reply
    1. Michael Barnett

      deHaas: “Burke was made by Cardinal Law – he is part of his coterie.”

      Do you have any evidence for this?
      That which is gratuitously asserted is gratuitously denied.

      You appear to only be trying to smear Cardinal Burke and destroy his reputation. You should be ashamed of yourself.

      Reply
  17. Tom Poelker

    Michael Barnett :
    deHaas: “Burke was made by Cardinal Law – he is part of his coterie.”
    Do you have any evidence for this?
    That which is gratuitously asserted is gratuitously denied.
    You appear to only be trying to smear Cardinal Burke and destroy his reputation. You should be ashamed of yourself.

    What has Cardinal Burke done to earn a positive reputation?
    He came to St, Louis and stirred up a hundred year old situation which even Rigalli had left alone, and did it with no more apparent reason than to obtain the petty consistency of a small mind. He was famously inaccessible to his priests and brought in small organizations in support of his minority views without regard to the expressed needs of the laity. Burke maintained a home in Rome and was frequently there maintaining his patronage connection instead of in his diocese meeting those he should have been serving. He did make himself kindly available after confirmations. Since then, he seems to have gotten into the news only by heading some special celebration photo op and then often because of his expensive tastes in clerical garb such as mitere pretiosa and cappa magna. I have yet to hear any significant news of his official work at he head of the Apostolic Signatura.

    So what other reputation does he have other than as a person who picks unnecessary fight with parishes and politicians and is more than two standard deviations beyond the mean in episcopal attire expenses?

    Tell us what actual good Burke has done.

    Reply
    1. Michael Barnett

      You understanding of the St Stanislaus Church controversy is understandably weak. Even members of the St Stanislaus board of directors saw the light and have reconciled with the Church.

      I don’t believe that he was inaccessible to his priests. Unfortunately I worked with some of the ones who hated (and yes I mean hated) him and they had never given him a chance.

      I’ve never heard that he was off to Rome every week. It doesn’t sound likely since he managed to come to the seminary and visit his seminarians almost every week.

      Go to the Kenrick Seminary website and look at the pictures of the seminarians lining the drive way to greet him and wish him farewell before he departed St Louis and when he came back for a visit. He’s one of the few bishops that gave his seminarians the time of day.

      There are many people who love him in St Louis and will never forget who he really is, in spite of the negative press that he has received.

      Reply

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