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The Pope Benedict has said “over the centuries and the millennia music has always been used to give form to what cannot be expressed in words because it arouses emotions otherwise difficult to communicate.”

Hear a 3-minute clip of Heart’s Cry at 360degreemusic.

Monsignor Guido Marini, Papal Master of Ceremonies, confirms in an interview with Scotland’s Herald newspaper today that during his visit to Britain Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate the Prefaces and Canons of all his Masses in Latin, “to emphasise the universality of the faith and the continuity of the Church”.

The Canon (Eucharistic Prayer) is the heart of the Mass, during which the priest consecrates and elevates the Host. There can be little doubt that Marini has put his foot down. Having already stopped liturgical philistines from subjecting the Pope to various musical horrors, he is now sending a clear – and, one suspects, deeply unwelcome – message to English, Welsh and Scottish bishops who actively discourage the celebration of Mass in Latin.

There’s particular fury among the diehard modernisers of Scotland, I gather, who have waged a sneaky battle to banish traditional worship from the Bellahouston Mass. They are now reduced to quibbling about the number of candles on the Glasgow altar, protesting at the Pope’s wish for six or seven on the grounds that… actually, I don’t know. Too Popish, perhaps?

And it seems I was spot on about the call for lay people to distribute Communion at Bellahouston, which will not please Rome at all since the use of non-ordained ministers is unnecessary in the presence of 400 priests. This message just reached me from a respected Scottish priest:

I am in no way surprised about the candles at the Papal Mass as the man in charge of the liturgy taught me liturgy at Scotus Seminary and was against anything Catholic. Indeed we were told we could put nothing on the altar and to have two free standing candles was the most.

I was also sitting at the back of a neighbouring parish last weekend … and the PP who is also a VG came on to make the announcements, one of which was to ask for “Eucharistic Ministers” [sic] to assist in giving out communion at the Mass in Bellahouston – so I would say that rumour is also true!

Maybe I shouldn’t be drawing attention to divisions at this late stage in the proceedings, but the utter disregard for the wishes of Pope Benedict shown by various organisers in England and Scotland has been quite shameful.

Just as the Government had to step in to save the public events of the visit from organisational chaos, the Pope’s Master of Ceremonies has had to intervene to ensure that the worship in Glasgow and Birmingham is suitably dignified. Rome is not impressed.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Pope Benedict XVI celebrates mass on September 5, 2010 during a pastoral visit to the village of Carpineto, 80 kms (50 miles) from Rome, by helicopter from his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo. The pope marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Pope Leo XIII, the author of a key text in the Catholic Church’s social teachings, with a visit to his birthplace of Carpineto.

“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

Let us pray. O God, who for the defense of the Catholic Faith and the restoration of all things in Christ didst fill Saint Pius, Supreme Pontiff, with heavenly wisdom and apostolic courage: grant in Thy loving kindness that by following his teachings and examples we may attain eternal rewards. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, Forever and ever. Amen.

A Traditional Latin Mass will be celebrated on Friday, September 3 at Saint Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church, Peoria, AZ.  The Mass “Extúli”, offered in memory of Pope Saint Pius X according to the liturgical calendar of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, will begin at 9:00 a.m.

Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto

June 2, 1835 – August 20, 1914

On Friday we celebrate St. Pius X’s Feast of the holy Pontiff Pope Saint Pius X who was such a crusader against Modernism, the “synthesis of all heresies.” In recalling St. Pius X’s life and studying his encyclicals and papal decrees, it is as if he had seen ahead of time what would occur in his beloved Church and so tried to warn the faithful and the hierarchy.

Pope Saint Pius X, holy 257th successor of Peter, is often referred to as the “Pope of the Holy Eucharist” for it was this very saintly Pontiff who decreed that all children over the age of seven would be eligible to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion. Besides advocating frequent reception of the Eucharist, he called for a codification of Canon Law and founded the Biblical Institute of Rome. He also pressed for more Gregorian chant in Church liturgy as opposed to the growing influx of concert-style liturgical music. In addition, he called for a more adequate translation of the Latin Vulgate Bible and issued a Catechism that all Catholic faithful could relate to and understand. St. Pius X was especially attentive to the needs of his fellow priests, rearranging the Psalter of the Liturgy of the Hours while holding the simple parish priest up as a model for all to emulate. The result was a marked increase in vocations and a renewed reverence for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. — Daily Catholic