Shawn Tribe has written an interesting piece on his New Liturgical Movement website
about the possible contribution of the Ordinariate to the development
of the vernacular liturgical tradition in the Catholic Church.
He
points out the growing interest in the use of Latin in the liturgy,
both in the Extraordinary form and in the Novus Ordo.
But, as he says,
the vernacular is here to stay, and we have to address what has been one
problem over recent decades: “our experience with the vernacular”, as
he says, “has been rather lack-lustre at best and banal at worst”.
The
problem has been addressed, he says, IN PART in the new translation of
the liturgy.
I would have thought it had been addressed fairly
thoroughly by the new translation: but Mr Tribe thinks we can go
further, and I have to say that I find his argument compelling. “Enter”,
he says, “the Anglican Ordinariate”:
“Within the context of
Anglican liturgical patrimony one cannot fail to be stirred by the
hieratic English liturgical tradition found there. This hieratic
tradition presents a majestic and liturgical form of English that very
clearly sits outside the day-to-day world and day-to-day speech. In this
regard, it might be understood as similar to the early Latin liturgical
tradition itself.
“This aspect is not only worth pursuing and
preserving as part of the Ordinariate, but here the Anglican Ordinariate
can bring something to the table for broader liturgical consideration
within the Roman rite. Indeed, I think it is no exaggeration to say that
it can be a tangible, living witness as to how to approach and pursue
vernacular liturgical forms in a way which is eminently liturgical and
sacral.”
Part of the trouble with that is that most
Anglo-Catholics in England today use the Novus Ordo in modern English,
both in solidarity with Rome and because, banal though it often is, it
is nevertheless, unlike the Anglican modern rite, which is equally
banal, undeniably orthodox.
This is something they care about (there are
Anglo-Catholics so called who don’t and just like a nice service, but
we Anglo-papalists—I was one of them — don’t/didn’t have anything to do
with them).
So the predominant use in the Ordinariate here will be
of the new translation of the Mass (though we English should understand
that Anglicanorum Coetibus is addressed to Anglicans throughout the
word, and that many of them prefer traditional Anglican liturgical
English).
That of course raises the question: what, then, in
Parishes which use the Novus Ordo IS the “Anglican patrimony” they are
bringing? Well, I’ve addressed that question elsewhere in a series of
posts; it isn’t just about liturgy.
But it’s certainly, in part,
in the great CARE taken over the liturgy, and in the reverence which
characterises its celebration (something not, I fear, always evident in
Roman Catholic churches, where often, before Mass, the congregation
chatters away without any apparent notion that preparatory prayer for
the reception of Holy Communion is necessary).
Despite the fact
that the predominant use among converting Catholics is the language of
the novus Ordo, what Shawn Tribe calls “hieratic” (roughly “priestly”)
English does have its place in the Anglican patrimony—and let’s face it,
we’re mostly talking here about the English of Thomas Cranmer, who
although a heretic and apostate was nevertheless a master of the English
language, and who formalised a style of liturgical English which is
still unsurpassed: we recognise that every time we say the Our Father at
Mass—in Cranmer’s translation (with one or two minor adjustments)
because, frankly, nothing else was good enough.
But Cranmer wasn’t
the only master of liturgical English: arguably greater (and himself a
clear influence on Cranmer) was Miles Coverdale, translator of the Book
of Common Prayer’s very beautiful psalter, and author (in his days as an
Augustinian canon) of a majestic pre-Reformation English translation of
the Roman Canon, which was authorised for the first time by Pope John
Paul over 4 centuries later for use in traditional language parishes of
the Anglican Use jurisdiction in the U.S. (a kind of forerunner of the
Ordinariate).
I don’t know how many Ordinariate Parishes of this
kind there will be in England: but they should be catered for (their
liturgical traditions certainly fall under the rubric of “Anglican
patrimony”), and when the Ordinariate publishes its liturgical books,
the traditional language Anglican Catholic liturgy already in use in
America should appear in it.
So that you can see how majestic this
language is, here is the Miles Coverdale translation of the Roman
Canon, which I now reproduce entire and unabridged (ah, the wonders of
the internet) and without any further comment, except to say that if you
can read THIS without being moved, you have a heart of stone:
Most merciful Father, we humbly pray thee, through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord.
[He joins his hands and, making the sign of the cross once over both bread and chalice, says]:
and we ask, that thou accept and bless + these gifts, these presents, these holy and unspoiled sacrifices.
[With hands extended, he continues]
We
offer them unto thee, first, for thy holy Catholic Church: that thou
vouchsafe to keep it in peace, to guard, unite, and govern it throughout
the whole world; together with thy servant N., our Pope and N., our
Bishop and all the faithful guardians of the Catholic and apostolic
faith.
Commemoration of the Living
Remember, O Lord, thy servants and handmaids [N. and N.]
[He prays for them briefly with hands joined. Then, with hands extended, he continues]
and
all who here around us stand, whose faith is known unto thee and their
steadfastness manifest, on whose behalf we offer unto thee, or who
themselves offer unto thee, this sacrifice of praise; for themselves,
and for all who are theirs; for the redemption of their souls, for the
hope of their salvation and safety; and who offer their prayers unto
thee, the eternal God, the living and the true.
United in one
communion, we venerate the memory, first of the glorious ever-Virgin
Mary, Mother of our God and Lord Jesus Christ; of Joseph her spouse; as
also of the blessed Apostles and Martyrs, Peter and Paul, Andrew,
James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and
Thaddaeus; Linus, Cletus, Clement, Xystus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence,
Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian and of all thy Saints:
grant that by their merits and prayers we may in all things be defended
with the help of thy protection.
[Through Christ Our Lord. Amen]
[With hands extended, he continues]
We beseech thee then, O Lord, graciously to accept this oblation from
us thy servants, and from thy whole family: order thou our days in thy
peace, and bid us to be delivered from eternal damnation, and to be
numbered in the fold of thine elect. [Through Christ our Lord.]
Vouchsafe, O God, we beseech thee, in all things to make this oblation
blessed, approved and accepted, a perfect and worthy offering: that it
may become for us the Body and Blood of thy dearly beloved Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ.
[He joins his hands].
Who the day before he suffered, [On Maundy Thursday he says:
Who the day before he suffered to save us and all men, that is today],
[He takes the bread and, raising it a little above the altar, continues]:
took bread into his holy and venerable hands,
[He looks upward]
and
with eyes lifted up to heaven, unto thee, God, his almighty Father,
giving thanks to thee, he blessed, broke and gave it to his disciples,
saying:
[He bows slightly.]
Take this, all of you, and eat it: this is my body which will be given up for you.
[He
genuflects, shows the consecrated Host to the People, places it on the
paten, and again genuflects in adoration. Then he continues]:
Likewise, after supper,
[He takes the chalice, and, raising it a little above the altar, continues]:
taking
also this goodly chalice into his holy and venerable hands, again
giving thanks to thee, he blessed, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
[He bows slightly.]
Take
this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the
blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and
for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.
[He genuflects, shows the Chalice to the People, places it on the corporal, and again genuflects in adoration].
[Then with hands extended, the Priest says]:
Wherefore,
O Lord, we thy servants, and thy holy people also, remembering the
blessed passion of the same Christ thy Son our Lord, as also his
resurrection from the dead, and his glorious ascension into heaven; do
offer unto thine excellent majesty of thine own gifts and bounty, the
pure victim, the holy victim, the immaculate victim, the holy Bread of
eternal life, and the Chalice of everlasting salvation.
Vouchsafe
to look upon them with a merciful and pleasant countenance; and to
accept them, even as thou didst vouchsafe to accept the gifts of thy
servant Abel the Righteous, and the sacrifice of our Patriarch Abraham;
and the holy sacrifice, the immaculate victim, which thy high priest
Melchisedech offered unto thee.
[Bowing, with hands joined, he continues]
We
humbly beseech thee, almighty God, command these offerings to be
brought by the hands of thy holy Angel to thine altar on high, in sight
of thy divine majesty; that all we who at this partaking of the altar
shall receive the most sacred Body and Blood of thy Son,
[He stands up straight and makes the sign of the cross, saying]
may be fulfilled with all heavenly benediction and grace. [Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.]
Commemoration of the Dead
[With hands extended, he says]
Remember
also, O Lord, thy servants and handmaids, [N. and N.], who have gone
before us sealed with the seal of faith, and who sleep the sleep of
peace.
[The Priest prays for them briefly with joined hands. Then, with hands extended, he continues]
To them, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, we beseech thee to grant the abode of refreshing, of light, and of peace.
[Through the same Christ our Lord.]
[The Priest strikes his breast with the right hand, saying]
To us sinners also, thy servants, who hope in the multitude of thy mercies,
[With hands extended, he continues]
vouchsafe
to grant some part and fellowship with thy holy Apostles and Martyrs;
with John, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander,
Marcellinus, Peter, Felicitas, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia,
Anastasia and with all thy Saints, within whose fellowship, we beseech
thee, admit us, not weighing our merit, but granting us forgiveness;
[He joins his hands and continues]
through
Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom, O Lord, thou dost ever create all
these good things; dost sanctify, quicken, bless, and bestow them upon
us;
[He takes the Chalice and the paten with the Host and, lifting them up, sings or says]
By
whom, and with whom, and in whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all
honour and glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world without end.
The People respond: Amen.