Kitty Nottingham, HS Parish Cat Interviews Anton, Papal Cat
Translated from Italian, German & Catlish
Kitty: So Anton, where is your companion papal cat today?
Anton: He went into hiding soon after we made the leak. He could not take the pressure. Reporters followed him everywhere.
Kitty: How about yourself?
Anton: I am fine. I will talk to anyone for a sausage or a nice can of tuna on Fridays.
Kitty: By the way, did you get my package?
Anton: Oh yes, and I must say those American mice are so much easier to keep down than the local Italian ones. They eat inordinate amounts of pasta and use way too much garlic in their diet. They give me the hiccups.
Kitty: Good, well back to business. Did you actually see the Pope sign the long-awaited motu proprio?
Anton: Sure did, let me see, it was back in March. It was March 23 I believe, yes I remember because we had a wonderful shrimp salad that evening.
Kitty: How did the Pope seem to you.
Anton: I would have to say he appeared a bit anxious. There have been some real fights. He flatly told a few of the Curia that they might have played games with the last pope, particularly when he got sicker, but that he would not stand for it. He is a gentle man though, and he shies away from hurting anyone. But he also knows the truth and as Pope he is aware that the See of Peter is not a democracy where a majority vote wins.
Kitty: Can you tell us who opposes the move?
Anton: I would rather not at this time.
Kitty: Pretty please…
Anton: Sorry, cat has got my tongue.
Kitty: Very amusing, okay…are you still sticking to Holy Thursday for the release date…that is tomorrow, you know.
Anton: All I can say is that is the intention. He is attaching a letter to explain why he is granting the universal indult. If it does not come out, it means someone wants a further modification and discussion.
Kitty: Well, it is simply to appease and reconcile with the Latin traditionalists, right?
Anton: No, not entirely. He himself is not a rigid traditionalist. He still thinks that the old Mass needs reform. But, given the current tension, this is not the time to tamper further with the Tridentine Mass.
Kitty: What shortcomings does he see in the older Ordo?
Anton: Lots of things. He still thinks the liturgical calendar is overly filled with saint memorials; indeed, he thinks that the last Pope went back and packed the new calendar too much as well. He also thinks that a larger selection of readings could have easily been inserted into the Tridentine Mass. As it now stands, the readings do not always match up because the calendars are different. He foresees an eventual harmony in the calendars, but not any time soon.
Kitty: Some critics contend that no one has the authority to change the Tridentine Mass. He obviously disagrees with this, then?
Anton: Yes, that is right. The Mass has had an organic development, that is until after Vatican II where only the bare-bones of the Roman Rite was preserved. He feels it was more a rupture with tradition than a real development. As for changes, the Mass has taken many forms throughout history. Even something as controversial as communion in the hand was practiced in the early Church. Although I think it is a bit precarious. Prior to the last council, popes made changes in the Mass. The Prayer to St. Michael was added to the Mass. The use of the little Gospel (John’s Prologue varied). The Confiteors were reduced from three to two with the deletion of the one prior to the Offertory. He thought that people and priest could together offer this prayer in a truly reformed rite, but more in sympathy with tradition. He also liked the older Offertory prayers over the current Jewish table blessings. [The crossed-out words are a lie and reflects the ultra-traditionalism of the cats themselves!] Pope Pius XII restored the Easter Vigil back in the 1950’s. And Pope John XXIII added the name of St. Joseph to the Roman Canon. He has certain personal tastes as well, preferring intinction over the distribution of the cup. This also puts him into conflict with many modern bishops and liturgists.
THE PHONE RINGS
Anton: [Answering the Phone] Yes, um cough, cough, meow…. meeeeeooow…… mew….. meow meow…. okay.
HANGS UP PHONE (BY USING HIS TAIL!)
Anton: Sorry, I have to go now. One of the local churches has a mouse problem and I have to take care of it. Yes, even the papal cats work for a living.
Kitty: Thank you for taking questions.
Anton: Always a pleasure.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
PERTINENT BLOG LINKS:
http://fatherjoe.wordpress.com/2007/01/27/pope-isolated-at-vatican-fight-over-the-mass/
http://fatherjoe.wordpress.com/2007/03/12/2007-the-great-year-of-the-eucharist/
http://fatherjoe.wordpress.com/2007/03/13/sacramentum-caritatis/
http://fatherjoe.wordpress.com/2007/03/13/one-two-three-punch-on-the-mass/
http://fatherjoe.wordpress.com/2007/03/14/liturgical-or-moral-or-political-document/
http://fatherjoe.wordpress.com/2007/04/01/cat-is-out-of-the-bag-about-tridentine-mass/
http://fatherjoe.wordpress.com/2007/04/02/tridentine-masscomingcomingcoming/
http://fatherjoe.wordpress.com/2007/04/03/can-we-get-along-as-one-church/
http://fatherjoe.wordpress.com/2007/04/04/a-catty-interview-about-tridentine-mass-indult/
Gotta love those cats!
In fact, this leaked cat-leak interview is so good, and so heart warming in it’s essence, that it just makes me flush with appreciation for our feline friends. In fact, I may even go home and give a treat to my own cat – distasteful, bloodthirsty beast that she is. Simply out of appreciation for the species.
Never trust a cat!
Dear Father Joe,
This is so cute! What a clever way to describe the drama that is raging behind the longed-for motu propio on the “universal indult” of the Old Rite.
Just a couple of things the cats may not have known about the Old Rite:
1. The St. Michael prayer was not part of that Mass. It was recited outside of the Low Mass – after the Last Blessing.
2. Contrary to traditionalist claim, Pope Benedict actually loves the Offertory Prayers of the New Rite.
From Ratzinger’s book, “God is Near Us,” pages 68-69. (Here he discusses the objection that “with the changes to the Offertory the sacrificial aspect of the Mass has been destroyed and that the Mass has thus ceased to be Catholic.” ):
First he says
“Well, even a modest acquaintance with the Little Catechism would be enough for us to realize that the sacrificial dimension was never located in the Offertory, but in the Eucharistic Prayer, the Canon. For we do not offer God this or that thing; the new element in the Eucharist is the presence of the sacrifice of Christ. Therefore the sacrifice is effective where his word is heard, the word of the Word, by which he transformed his death into an event of meaning and of love, in order that we, through being able to take up his words for ourselves, are led onward into his love, onward into the love of the Trinity, in which he eternally hands himself over to the Father. There, where the words of the Word ring forth, and our gifts thus become his gifts, through which he gives himself, that is the sacrificial element that has ever and always been characteristic of the Eucharist.”
(The he argues that that the word “Offertory” really refers not to “offering of sacrifice” but merely of preparation of the bread and wine for the true offering to come later (in the canon).
“What we call the ‘Offertory’ has another significance. The German word Opferung, and likewise the English word ‘offertory’, comes either from the Latin offerre, or more probably from operare. Offerre does not mean to sacrifice (that is immolare in Latin); it is rather to provide, prepare, make available. And operari means to effect; in this case it, too, means to prepare. The idea was simply that at this point the eucharistic altar had to be made ready and that to this end operari, that is, various activity, was necessary, so that the candles, the gifts, bread and wine, should be standing ready for the Eucharist, as was befitting. This was therefore in the first instance simply an external preparation for what was to happen. But people very soon came to understand it in a deeper sense. They borrowed the action of the head of the household in Judaism, who holds the bread up before the face of God, so as to receive it anew from him. By lifting up the gifts to God, by entering together into Israel’s manner of preparing itself for God, the outward acts of preparation were increasingly understood as an inward preparation for the approach of God, who seeks us out himself through our gifts.
“Right up to the ninth or tenth century this act of preparation, which had been taken over from Israel, happened without any words. Then there arose a feeling that every action in the Christian sphere also required words. Thus in about the tenth century those offertory prayers were composed that the older ones among us know and love from the old missal and perhaps even miss in the new form of Mass. These prayers were beautiful and profound. But we have to admit that they carried within them the seeds of a certain misunderstanding. The way they were formulated always looked forward to the actual matter of the Canon. Both elements, the preparation and the actual sacrifice of Christ, were intertwined in these words.”
So, he says, the Novus Ordo schemers first wanted to go back to the early situation, but Paul VI intervened:
“For this reason, those who were reforming the Liturgy wished first of all to return to the situation before the ninth century and to leave the ritual of offering the gifts without any words. The Holy Father, Pope Paul VI, decided person- ally, and with some emphasis, that some words of prayer would have to remain here. He himself took part in the formulation of these prayers. In their main outlines they are derived from the table prayers of Israel. We must also bear in mind that all these prayers over meals of Israel, these blessings, as they are called, are related to the Paschal Mystery; they look toward the Passover of Israel, are thought out on that basis and draw their life from it. That means that they are implicitly looking forward to the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ, that we may call them at the same time both Advent and Easter prayers.”
Finally, he concludes that something of new and positive value has thereby been added to the Mass.
“Above all, we will recall that the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, prayed in this way — on their flight into Egypt, in the strange land, and then at home in Nazareth, and again that Jesus prayed in this way with his disciples. At that time the Jewish rule was probably already in force that in the evening the mother lights the candles and that she is then the leader of family prayers. Thus, in these prayers we may hear the voice of Mary and pray with her. The whole secret life of Nazareth, this Advent progression toward the Easter event, is present in them. Thus, a new treasure has entered the Liturgy. We start, as it were, with Nazareth, in the act of preparation, and from there we move — in the middle of the Canon — toward Golgotha, and finally on into the Resurrection event of Communion. I think if we hear these new old prayers in this way, then they can become for us a wonderful treasure in uniting us with the earthly life of Jesus, uniting us with the waiting prayer of Israel, and in our sharing the journey from Nazareth to Golgotha and up to the hour of the Resurrection.”
Thought the cats might want to check out this book.
Thanks for your beautiful blog, Father Joe!