For at least as long as there has been codified liturgical law every “organic development” has begun life as a “liturgical abuse.”
Read moreAuthor: Fritz Bauerschmidt

Quintessential Easter: Darkness and Light, Death and Rebirth
An article in this morning’s Washington Post reporting on some Easter Sunday celebrations in the D.C. area points us to the meaning of Easter itself.
Read moreSomething New for the Easter Vigil in 2012?
The Missale Romanum 2002 has a few surprises in it, including what amount to changes in the RCIA.
Read moreMinisters or Mysteries?
Has the forthcoming translation of the Exultet transformed divine mysteries into angel ministers?
Read moreThe Point of Fasting
Perhaps I am simply an incurable hedonist, but thinking of the Lenten fast as an occasion for moral and spiritual improvement strikes me as profoundly wrong.
Read moreAnother country heard from: the “1965 Missal”
A recent comment got me thinking about how the 1965 translation that first introduced English into the Mass stacked up against the current and the coming translations (plus, of course, 1998).
Read moreCritics of the New Translation Learning from Critics of the Old Translation
Critics of the soon-to-be-implemented translation find themselves in the position of learning from those whom they might normally consider their opponents, namely, those who enthusiastically welcome the new translation after having spent years praying a translation that they dislike.
Read moreThe feast of Cyril and Methodius: a time to pray for translators
Though Jerome is usually considered the patron saint of translators, the feast of Ss. Cyril and Methodius is as good a time as any to pray for those who have the usually thankless task of translating.
Read moreRestoration and/or Reversal
I find it interesting that on his blog Fr. Zuhlsdorf, in reporting this story, speaks of “reversing” the order of the sacraments, while on this blog it says “restoring” the order of the sacraments. Both, of course, can be true statements, without contradicting one another.
Read moreSelf-explanatory liturgy?
There is certainly a sense in which the symbols of the liturgy ought to speak for themselves and not require constant explanation. Butit is not necessarily a failure of a rite if its formulations are subject to misunderstanding.
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