For those who understand German: Martin Mosebach and Robert Spaemann square off against two “liturgists” last August 20 in Frankfurt!

Debate on youtube.

On September 14 and 15, the St. Gregory Institute will hold a symposium at St. John the Evangelist Church in Stamford on the implementation of the reforms of Pope Benedict XVI. Practical, scholarly and philosophical discussions will be led by Rev. Richard Cipolla, chaplain of the St. Hugh of Cluny Society, Rev. Robert Skeris of Catholic University, Paul Weber of Franciscan University, and Scott Turkington and David Hughes, Connecticut organists. For more information, including a schedule of events, please go to the website http://www.stamfordschola.org/.

What follows is my humble translation of the initial report on the “Great Debate” between traditionalists and progressives held Monday in Frankfurt.

To Strengthen the Sacred: a Topical Forum points out Different Paths

An Audience of 400 present at a Discussion on the Reintroduction of the Old Mass

By Doris Wiese-Gutheil

Frankfurt. A topical news forum of the Frankfurt cathedral circle ”Church and Science’ showed that there are totally different ways to revitalize the Sacred in the Catholic Church. On Monday, August 20, around 400 attendees crowded into the main auditorium of the “Haus am Dom” to experience the disputation between recognized experts on a hot topic: “Reconquering the Sacred” and the reintroduction of the Latin mass according to the Tridentine rite. Quite a few others capitulated and left in the face of the overcrowded auditorium.

The remaining 400 nevertheless persevered courageously despite the crowding and heat, enthralled by the exciting and at times caustic discussion. The liturgist and Church historian Arnold Angenendt (University of Muenster) right away aptly characterized the scene as: “Two for, two against – there’ll be fireworks!” Even though both theologians, Angenendt and Albert Gerhards, a liturgist at he University of Bonn, made efforts to reconcile the contradictory positions – as did the philosopher Robert Spaemann – many a cutting word was said.

In particular, Martin Mosebach, the author from Frankfurt and the recipient of this year’s Georg Buechner prize, defended vehemently his love for the old Roman liturgy – just as he had already expounded it in his 2002 book “the Heresy of Formlessness.”
The 56 year old lamented that as a Catholic who hadn’t gone to church between 1962 and 1975, he had found nothing the same upon “the return of the prodigal son.” The Second Vatican Council and the liturgical reform of the 60’s had destroyed the “essence of Catholic Christianity”; the Church today only hangs on to “dwarf forms.” Such a loss, according to Mosebach, is “disastrous for a religion whose core idea is the word Tradition.” Mosebach’s hope is that the Tridentine rite, which Pope Benedict XV legalized again at the beginning of June, will serve as the standard for the New Rite. Even so, the New Rite – in the German language and with the priest facing the faithful – remains the main form of the Catholic mass, also according to the will of the Pope.

The philosopher Robert Spaemann also lamented the “liturgical reform dictated from above” of 40 years ago, carried out in part “dogmatically and with brute force.” It could not stop the disintegration of the church; rather it pushed the adherents of the old Latin Mass onto a “fringe of indecency.” Nevertheless, the 80 year old made a plea that both sides refrain from persecuting each others’ opinions. The pope in his decision deliberately wanted to assure that “the confrontation ceases.”

The two liturgists Angenendt and Gerhards indeed demonstrated various historical errors in the arguments of Mosebach and Spaemann. The rite of the mass was not at all a ”treasure” passed down unchanged for 2000 years but had been reformed again and again, often for the better – for example, when Christianity freed itself from the idea of female impurity, when the canon of the priest was changed or when the “active participation” of the faithful was revitalized. In the mass one must always struggle to “express the Sacred more profoundly.” According to Gerhards, however, it’s not just the old rite that achieves this: “it takes place through the disposition of the Faithful.”

Source:

http://www.bistumlimburg.de/

The Society has the great pleasure to announce the visit to New York and Connecticut of Martin Mosebach and Father Uwe Michael Lang. Martin Mosebach is an eminent German novelist and essayist. In October of this year he will receive the Georg Buechner prize-the highest German literary award. Mr. Mosebach has written and spoken extensively on Catholic issues, particularly relating to the Traditional liturgy. His Heresy of Formlessness, on the liturgy, was published in English translation last year by Ignatius Press. Father Lang is a priest of the Brompton Oratory in London and the author of an influential study on the position of the celebrant in the Roman rite: Turning towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer. (Foreword by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger) This year Fr. Lang has relocated to Rome to take up an appointment at the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Patrimony of the Church.

Fr. Lang and Mr. Mosebach will be speaking at three separate locations. Fr. Lang will introduce Mr. Mosebach and situate his work for us in the context of the post-Summorum Pontificum world. Mr. Mosebach will read from his Heresy of Formlessness. There will be time for questions at the end of the presentation.

The following events are scheduled in conjunction with the visit of Mr. Mosebach and Fr. Lang:

Friday, Sept. 7, New Haven, Connecticut
St. Mary Church Hall, 5 Hillhouse Avenue
7:30 PM: Presentation by Martin Mosebach and Fr. Lang.
directions: http://www.stmarys-priory.com/directions.htm

Saturday, Sept. 8, New Canaan Connecticut
New Canaan Public Library, 151 Main Street
5:30 PM: Presentation by Martin Mosebach and Fr. Lang.
Link to directions

Sunday, Sept. 9, New York, New York
Church of Our Saviour, 59 Park Avenue at 38th Street
5:00 PM: Solemn High Mass in the Traditional rite.
6:30PM: Presentation by Mr. Mosebach and Fr. Lang in the undercroft of the church.
Link to directions

The Society of St. Hugh of Cluny was formed shortly after Pope Benedict’s Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum was promulgated on 7 July 2007. The Society chose as its patron saint Hugh of Cluny (1024-1109), the great abbot of Cluny. It was St. Hugh who understood so deeply the centrality of the liturgy both in the Church and in the culture. His zeal for the reform of the Church was always centered in his love for the liturgy. His attention to the beauty and splendor of the liturgy at Cluny that spread throughout the Church in Europe, became a beacon and a real force in the reform of the Church and society.

We believe that Summorum Pontificum is the magna carta for the return to beauty, splendor, reverence, mystery and deep participation in the Holy Mass. We believe that Pope Benedict has given the Church, especially the Catholic laity, this means and summons to recapture the Tradition, not in some nostalgic or reactionary sense, but rather to rediscover the organic and living organism of the Roman rite and thereby reform and enrich both the Church and the surrounding culture.

The Society is open to all Catholics who wish to support the recovery of Catholic liturgy and the reform of Church and society. The Society will support practical means of meeting this goal: training of priests to celebrate the 1962 use; supporting conferences on traditional liturgy and music, and the role of the arts in liturgy; sponsoring lectures and colloquia on topics relevant to the goals of the Society.

Intercessio nos, quaesumus, Domine, beati Hugonis Abbatis commendat: ut, quod nostris meritis non valemus, eius patrocinio assequamur. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, filium tuum, qui vivit et regnat in unitate Spirius Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Father Richard Cipolla, Chaplain

Registration is easy: send an E-mail to hughofcluny@gmail.com. In addition to your e-mail address you may include your mailing addresss and telephone number. We will add you to the Society’s contact list.

We would like to give advance notice that Martin Mosebach, the eminent German novelist, will be visiting Connecticut and New York City in early September. He will read from his major work on the Tradional Roman rite “The Heresy of Formlessness” (Ignatius Press). He will be accompanied by Father Michael Lang of the Brompton Oratory. The society will be sponsoring this trip. We will be publishing full details of the individual events as they become available.

A Missa Cantata, according to the 1962 missal, is celebrated every Sunday at St. Mary Church in Stamford, Connecticut at 11:15 am. The celebrant is Father Richard Cipolla. St. Mary’s, located at 566 Elm Street, has ample free parking and is a few minutes away from I-95. Directions

This Traditional Mass will be discontinued as of December 2, 2007. Starting on that date, please plan to attend the Traditional Mass at St. Mary Church, Norwalk, CT at 9:00 am.

Our society is dedicated to the revival of the traditional Latin liturgy.