Sermon for the 20thSunday after Pentecost, October 10th, 2021 – Holy Mass (4)

 

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen

 

My dearly beloved in Our Lord,

 

Today we shall take a look at the dogmata or anathemata published by the Holy Council of Trent. The ecclesiastical magisterium (teaching authority) proposes a doctrine. Then it sums up and condenses this doctrine into dogmatic formulas which are usually proclaimed in a negative form: Whoever thinks or teaches this or that, or denies that truth, let him be anathema, ie. excluded from the community of those who believe what the Church believes.

 

CHAPTER IX.

Preliminary Remark on the following Canons.

“And because that many errors are at this time disseminated and many things are taught and maintained by divers persons, in opposition to this ancient faith, which is based on the sacred Gospel, the traditions of the Apostles, and the doctrine of the holy Fathers; the sacred and holy Synod, after many and grave deliberations maturely had touching these matters, has resolved, with the unanimous consent of all the Fathers, to condemn, and to eliminate from holy Church, by means of the canons subjoined, whatsoever is opposed to this most pure faith and sacred doctrine.”

 

The Church does not simply make up, or wildly throw around condemnations. She formulates them in reaction to errors or heresies which have occurred.

Not all disputes concern the revealed Faith directly, and thus the Church has not settled all disputes or controversies authoritatively. But whenever the purity and integrity of the Faith is concerned or in danger, then she can and must clean out her stable.

 

ON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.

CANON I.--If any one saith, that in the mass a true and proper sacrifice is not offered to God; or, that to be offered is nothing else but that Christ is given us to eat; let him be anathema.

The Mass is a true and proper sacrifice, not a sacrifice in a spiritual or figurative sense.

The Sacrifice of the Mass does not consist in the consuming of Christ’s body and blood. Holy Communion – that of the celebrating priest – is the consummation of the sacrifice. It is an integral part of the Sacrifice, together with the Offertory and the Canon. If the Offertory or Communion were omitted, the Sacrifice would still be really offered, but it would be incomplete.

 

CANON II.--If any one saith, that by those words, Do this for the commemoration of me, Christ did not institute the apostles priests; or, did not ordain that they, and other priests should offer His own body and blood; let him be anathema.

Every authority, and principally the divine authority, cannot possibly give an order or a mandate without giving or indicating also the appropriate means for its completion or execution. The priest pronounces the words “Do this for the commemoration of me” (Lk 22:19) right after the words of Consecration over the chalice, just as Christ has done. Christ has necessarily communicated to his Apostles the power of Consecration, he has ordained and consecrated them to be priests. All other priestly powers are but a consequence of this capacity and power which Christ communicates to the priest, the power over the true and sacramental Body and Blood of Our Lord.

 

CANON III.--If any one saith, that the sacrifice of the mass is only a sacrifice of praise and of thanksgiving; or, that it is a bare commemoration of the sacrifice consummated on the cross, but not a propitiatory sacrifice; or, that it profits him only who receives; and that it ought not to be offered for the living and the dead for sins, pains, satisfactions, and other necessities; let him be anathema.

The first part is directed against a Protestant error which the Montini-mass has adopted. Sacrifice – yes: but only a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, not a propitiatory sacrifice.

The next part “it profits him only who receives” excludes the modernist doctrine which says that the Mass is a meal. This view had become very dear to the “liturgical movement”. Communion is not primarily a meal, but, as we have said, an integral part necessary for the sacrifice to be completed. Holy Communion is the fruit of Christ’s sacrifice which is consumed under the form of nourishment, but it is not the sacrifice itself, as Canon I has made clear.

 

CANON IV.--If any one saith, that, by the sacrifice of the mass, a blasphemy is cast upon the most holy sacrifice of Christ consummated on the cross; or, that it is thereby derogated from; let him be anathema.

Just like other would-be “reformers”, Luther has drawn many and far-reaching conclusions from his false theological assumptions. He went extremely far, and was very violent also in his statements on the Papacy and the Mass. He called them a work of Satan and worse.

As we have seen already, the Council of Trent has taught very clearly how the sacrifice of the Mass is the same, and how it is different from the Sacrifice of the Cross.

 

CANON V.--If any one saith, that it is an imposture to celebrate masses in honour of the saints, and for obtaining their intercession with God, as the Church intends; let him be anathema.

This error is opposed to the doctrine taught in ch. III which we have explained already.

 

CANON VI.--If any one saith, that the canon of the mass contains errors, and is therefore to be abrogated; let him be anathema.

This error of the “reformers” also concerns the Montini-mass, at least indirectly. The “new mass” has done away de facto with the old and venerable Roman Canon, mainly by introducing alternative prayers which usually make the race because they are significantly shorter.

 

CANON VII.--If any one saith, that the ceremonies, vestments, and outward signs, which the Catholic Church makes use of in the celebration of masses, are incentives to impiety, rather than offices of piety; let him be anathema.

We have to remember the teaching of chapter V. This is all the more important because now the notion of human nature and of the nature of things in general is entirely dissolved. Precisely human nature, composed of a spiritual element, the soul, and of a physical element, the body, makes the use of sensible signs and objects in the liturgy indispensable. The rejection of such bodily elements is always based on the error of manicheism. It considers the spiritual things as good, but the physical things as evil.

 

CANON VIII.--If any one saith, that masses, wherein the priest alone communicates sacramentally, are unlawful, and are, therefore, to be abrogated; let him be anathema.

This corresponds to the teaching of chapter VI. Since the priest is the only one who performs the sacrifice in the name of the Church and in the person of Christ, a Mass where only the priest communicates sacramentally are complete and worthy.

 

CANON IX.--If any one saith, that the rite of the Roman Church, according to which a part of the canon and the words of consecration are pronounced in a low tone, is to be condemned; or, that the mass ought to be celebrated in the vulgar tongue only; or, that water ought not to be mixed with the wine that is to be offered in the chalice, for that it is contrary to the institution of Christ; let him be anathema.

Just an anecdote about the loud and low tone used by the priest at Mass. In SSPX there is a great confusion about what is to be said in what kind of tone. This is partly because they have not learned to look at the proper sources, partly because they have chosen the 1962 Mass rite which is already some way towards the “new mass”. The 1960 rubrics have indeed intended to do away with the intermediate tone, even though this was not implemented consistently. At “Nobis quoque peccatoribus” in the Canon there is still the indication that the priest says these words with a slightly elevated voice. Since a little confusion never remains little, there are even priests who say the words of Consecration in a loud voice!

As far as the use of the vernacular is concerned, Francis/Bergoglio demands in his recent motu proprio through which he wants to do away with the Latin rite, that the readings be said in the vernacular language (art.3 §3). This, too, is being practiced in SSPX in many countries with the permission of Msgr Lefebvre.

 

Let us give thanks to God that we know and profess the true Faith! Let us take the resolution to study the Faith more deeply, as much as the circumstances of our life allow or call for it. Instead of running after the daily news, let us busy ourselves with the unchanging truths which prepare us for eternity!

 

 

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

 P. Arnold Trauner (paterarnold@hotmail.com), njemački i engleski