{"id":2927,"date":"2012-04-30T08:31:12","date_gmt":"2012-04-30T15:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=2927"},"modified":"2016-02-11T17:02:41","modified_gmt":"2016-02-12T01:02:41","slug":"the-feast-of-pius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/the-feast-of-pius\/","title":{"rendered":"The Feast of Pius"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nW<\/span>hen Pope Saint Pius V issued the Papal Bull “Quo Primum” in 1570, Christendom was in chaos. The happy diversity of rites that had persisted through the middle ages had come home to roost in the disjointed response to the Lutheran reforms that, driven by ego and ignorance on both sides, had spun out of control into heresy and reformation.<\/p>\n

But perhaps I should explain.<\/p>\n

We take it for granted now that the same Mass with the same lectionary readings and the same prayers is said on the same day throughout the whole of the Latin rite of the Catholic Church. No matter where you are in the world, today you will have the same Mass everywhere. Tomorrow, again, different readings and prayers from today, but the same throughout the world.<\/p>\n

Eastern Catholicism, of course, has a variety of rites. Even within some of these (I’m thinking of the Byzantine rite particularly) they celebrate several different versions of the Divine Liturgy.<\/p>\n

This same diversity once existed in western Catholicism as well. In addition to the Roman Rite, there were a plethora of different but related rites in North Africa, England, Spain, France, elsewhere in Italy. Several religious Orders had their own rites as well.<\/p>\n

Unity was understood to not require uniformity.<\/p>\n

There is, however, a principle long enunciated in the church: lex orandi; lex credendi; lex vivendi<\/i> (the law of prayer is the law of belief is the law of living). In other words, how you live is based on what you believe, which in turn is based on how you worship.<\/p>\n

I’m not saying that the diversity of rites in the West led to the shattering of the Church in the Reformation; that would be facile. But if you’re a person who is interested in creating disunity, if you’re interested in breaking up the Church for your own benefit, this is one more tool you can use. Shrewd people can certainly take advantage of a hundred rites to produce a hundred churches if they like.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In the face of both pious reformers and shrewd charlatans, the disunity of the Church made for easy pickings. Reformation and war finally provoked the Church to convene the Council of Trent<\/a> in 1545, and the Counter-Reformation got well underway.<\/p>\n

At the time the bishops gathered in Trent, unity was foremost on their minds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Council met on and off until 1563 – 18 years. It produced an astonishing number of concrete things in pursuit of that unity. <\/p>\n

The Roman Catechism was published in 1566, a revised Roman Breviary in 1568, and in 1570 Pope Pius V issued “Quo Primum”. <\/p>\n

With this document, the Roman Missal was revised, standardized, and made mandatory throughout the West.<\/p>\n

Mandatory? Well, sort of.<\/p>\n

That “mandatory” part was a little dodgy. All rites that could prove an antiquity of at least 200 years were allowed to retain their own calendars and books. To this day, you have some continuations under this provision: the Mozarabic Rite in parts of Spain, the Ambrosian Rite in Milan and Switzerland, the Rite of the Dominican Order.<\/p>\n

But by and large, this new Roman Missal, the so-called “Tridentine Mass” was the standard. Gradually almost everybody adopted it. It became a sign of unity.<\/p>\n

The thing is, it really wasn’t “new” in any sense of the word. It was just the codification of the Roman Rite that had slowly developed after having been originally established in that city by Saint Peter in the first century. The earliest surviving manuscripts we have of the Roman Canon, for example, are substantially identical to that of the Tridentine Missal more than a thousand years later.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t a change so much as a consolidation and standardization, and it was the norm for 500 years.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Following the Second Vatican Council<\/a>, Pope Paul VI issued a new Roman Missal in 1970, the so-called Novus Ordo<\/i>. This really was a new beast. At least 1800 years of development of the Roman Rite was drastically pruned back.<\/p>\n

Maybe after all that time, the rosebush of the Roman Rite really did need that sort of pruning. Maybe it was pruned back too much. I don’t know. Those sorts of decisions are taken at a pay grade far above mine. Much like what happened after Trent, it will take some time to shake out.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, in direct opposition of what happened after Trent, the new Missal did not lead to unity. Because of the times, and aided by the fact that the instructions in the text were much less precise than those of the previous Missal, it became an excuse for all sorts of crazy experimentation and abuse.<\/p>\n

We’re still living with that forty plus years later. While Popes John Paul II and especially Benedict XVI tried dialing back the chaos, it has proven difficult to get the genie back into the bottle. As a gentle corrective, Pope Benedict XVI has called for a “new liturgical movement<\/a>” to “re-enchant” the liturgy. He has liberated the “Tridentine” Mass, allowing any priest who wishes to celebrate it to do so, and calling it an “extraordinary form” of the Roman Rite, as opposed to the “ordinary form” put out by Pope Paul VI.<\/p>\n

Under the terms of the Pastoral Provision of Pope John Paul II and the Ordinariates established by Pope Benedict XVI, Anglicans that profess their unity with the Church will have their own rites based on their own traditions, possibly including an infusion from the more or less defunct Sarum Rite of England.<\/p>\n

In the 21st century, the Roman rite has become multi-ritual again, this time as a corrective to disunity. Different remedies for different ages.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>There’s more to this “reform of the reform” than the Divine Liturgy, of course. Once again a new Catechism<\/i> was definitively issued in 1997.<\/p>\n

It’s funny how things come around.<\/p>\n

I’m hoping they tackle Breviary next. Or at least the horrible English translation.<\/p>\n

\n

O God, who in your providence raised up Pope Saint Pius the Fifth in you Church that the faith might be safeguarded and more fitting worship be offered to you, grant, through his intercession, that we may participate in your mysteries with lively faith and fruitful charity. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.<\/p>\n

(Collect for the Memorial of Pope Saint Pius V)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Pope Saint Pius V issued the Papal Bull “Quo Primum” in 1570, Christendom was in chaos. The happy diversity of rites that had persisted through the middle ages had come home to roost in the disjointed response to the Lutheran reforms that, driven by ego and ignorance on both sides, had spun out of control into heresy and reformation. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,6,16,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-pope-benedict-xvi","category-saint","category-sacred-liturgy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-Ld","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":105659,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/july-14th-1570\/","url_meta":{"origin":2927,"position":0},"title":"July 14th, 1570","author":"Thom","date":"14 July 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"the 450th anniversary of the Apostolic Constitution\u00a0Quo primum\u00a0by which Pope Saint Pius V promulgated the revised Missale Romanum mandated by the Council of Trent. Pope Saint Pius V The core of the document is the oft-quoted (and misquoted) third and fourth paragraphs. Let all everywhere adopt and observe what has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "History"","block_context":{"text":"History","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/piusv.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/piusv.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/piusv.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/piusv.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":106174,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/changes-to-the-roman-missal\/","url_meta":{"origin":2927,"position":1},"title":"Changes to the Roman Missal","author":"Thom","date":"06 February 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Pope Saint Pius V promulgated the revised Missale Romanum in the Apostolic Constitution Quo Primum in 1570, he famously wrote that it applied \"henceforth, now, and forever, throughout all the provinces of the Christian world\". Yet, just a year later the Pope himself issued the first changes to the Missal,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Holy Days"","block_context":{"text":"Holy Days","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/holy-days\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/13_06_17_Joseph_decree_lr.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/13_06_17_Joseph_decree_lr.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/13_06_17_Joseph_decree_lr.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108316,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/processions-in-the-rubrics-of-lent\/","url_meta":{"origin":2927,"position":2},"title":"Processions in the Rubrics of Lent","author":"Thom","date":"06 February 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Ash Wednesday is just over a week away. Here at Pistachio House, we just took down the last of our Christmas decorations on Candlemas, and here we are practically in Lent already! The modern Roman Missal has a set of rubrics that cover the whole of Lent, before it digs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pope Francis, Ash Wednesday stational procession, 2020","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pope-walks-in-penitential-procession-on-ash-wednesday-2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pope-walks-in-penitential-procession-on-ash-wednesday-2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pope-walks-in-penitential-procession-on-ash-wednesday-2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pope-walks-in-penitential-procession-on-ash-wednesday-2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pope-walks-in-penitential-procession-on-ash-wednesday-2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109461,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/processions-in-the-rubrics-of-lent-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2927,"position":3},"title":"Processions in the Rubrics of Lent","author":"Thom","date":"28 February 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Ash Wednesday is less than a week away. How can Lent be so close already? The modern Roman Missal has a set of rubrics that cover the whole of Lent, before it digs into each day separately. Let's take a look at them, because there may be some surprises. Most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pope Francis, Ash Wednesday stational procession, 2020","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pope-walks-in-penitential-procession-on-ash-wednesday-2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pope-walks-in-penitential-procession-on-ash-wednesday-2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pope-walks-in-penitential-procession-on-ash-wednesday-2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pope-walks-in-penitential-procession-on-ash-wednesday-2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/pope-walks-in-penitential-procession-on-ash-wednesday-2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":639,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/instruction-universae-ecclesiae\/","url_meta":{"origin":2927,"position":4},"title":"Instruction Univers\u00e6 Ecclesi\u00e6","author":"Thom","date":"13 May 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The instruction Univers\u00e6 Ecclesi\u00e6 was issued today in Rome. It is a clarification of Summorum Pontificum, which Pope Benedict XVI promulgated on 7 July 2007. By far the best source for information that I've found so far is Father Z's PODCAzT on the subject. Vatican Radio also has a nice\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Pope Benedict XVI"","block_context":{"text":"Pope Benedict XVI","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/pope-benedict-xvi\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/stemma-1-189x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":100225,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/presence-and-participation\/","url_meta":{"origin":2927,"position":5},"title":"Presence and Participation","author":"Thom","date":"11 October 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Part 4 in an ongoing series of essays on the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. we begin at last to come to the crux of the issue as we move on to Chapter I of the General Instruction: The Importance and Dignity of the Celebration of the Eucharist, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Instruction of the Roman Missal"","block_context":{"text":"General Instruction of the Roman Missal","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/sacred-liturgy\/general-instruction-of-the-roman-missal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Screen-Shot-2019-10-11-at-15.20.29-e1570835070934.png?fit=1200%2C347&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Screen-Shot-2019-10-11-at-15.20.29-e1570835070934.png?fit=1200%2C347&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Screen-Shot-2019-10-11-at-15.20.29-e1570835070934.png?fit=1200%2C347&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Screen-Shot-2019-10-11-at-15.20.29-e1570835070934.png?fit=1200%2C347&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Screen-Shot-2019-10-11-at-15.20.29-e1570835070934.png?fit=1200%2C347&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2927"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86753,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2927\/revisions\/86753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}