It is of utmost joy that our organisation Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph – Philippines, a lay organisation of faithful predilecting the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite has now initiated the erection of a personal parish dedicated solely to celebrating the Tridentine Latin Mass according to the Missal of Bl. John XXIII. Our EDSSJ founding chairman, Bro Dennis Maturan has posted this recently through our ygroups :

The Bishop of the Diocese of Cubao, his excellency Bishop Honesto F.Ongtioco, D.D., has permitted the erection of a personal parish for those who are attached to the Extra Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite. The church building will be dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and will under the auspices of Fr. Michell Joe Zerrudo and the Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph to consolidate efforts aong various groups advocating the return of the form of Mass popularly known as the Tridentine Mass. The parish will also be available for other Sacraments to be administered according to the liturgical books of 1962 or prior to 1970. It will also be a venue of training for priests who would like to learn the ancient usage of the Roman Rite and others who would like to learn the rubrics of serving at the traditional rites, including schola and choir training. The Diocese is now looking for a venue for the said personal parish and funds are solicited in order to commence such as august aposolate. Funds may be channeled through Fr. Michell Joe B. Zerrudo, Parish of Our Lord of Divine Mercy, Diocese of Cubao, Maamo cor. Madasalins Sts., Sikatuna, Quezon City, Philippines or may call his parish at 029213337. We therefore appeal to traditonal Catholic communities to help us in such endeavor.

To help us in propagating further the spirituality of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, I enjoin  myself in this endeavour being a member of the Society itself. We appeal for prayers such that this aspiration may be accomplished in God’s time.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam! Sancti Ioannes Marie Vianney, ora pronobis

The Defensores Fidei Foundation, a non-profit lay organisation committed to Catholic apologetics and evangelisation will resume its “Blessed to be Catholic” monthly talks, commencing with topics regarding the significance of Chinese martyrs & their contribution to the Catholic faith. It will be held from 8:30 AM to noontime on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at the second floor of the Amici Building (specifically the room adjacent to Totus Bookstore) in Greenhills. The speaker would be Fr. Simon Zhu Jie, a priest from Beijing currently studying here in the Philippines.

Admission is free.

I’ll be doing a couple of them perhaps later this evening then post them here. I just hope I won’t stay up too late as usual due to my work

Come and be spiritually refreshed!

There will be a lenten recollection this Saturday (March 7, 2009) as one of the highlights of this year’s Cuaresma exhibit that runs from February 27 to March 15, 2009 and spearheaded by the Hermanidad de la Sagrada Pasion de Jesus along with the Department of Tourism. Fr. Michell Joe B. Zerrudo, parish priest of the Parish of the Lord of Divine Mercy in Sikatuna Village and spiritual director of Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph will give the talks in the said recollection and serve as celebrant during the ad orientem Latin Novus Ordo Mass that follows. The whole duration of the recollection will be from 2-7PM.

It has been difficult for me to contain so much emotion on the death of Msgr Moises Andrade, STL–one of our beloved spiritual advisers of our Tridentine Latin Mass group Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph and one of the most respected liturgists in the country. He suffered from severe stroke last week prior to saying Mass in the morning then succumbed to Death’s beckoning a handful of days later. In truth, I had been weeping ever since I received word that he has been billeted into a hospital with respirator and ventilator fixations all over him although I can say that I have never doubted whatever God’s will may be.

Requiescant in pace. Memories of his indefatigable efforts of preserving Catholic orthodoxy in the liturgy shall never be forgotten.

My heartfelt thanks to you Msgr. Andrade for everything. Thank you for being such an inspiration not only to me but for every Catholic.

(N.B: There had been a requiem mass in the extraordinary form at 8PM today. Announcements on the funeral date shall follow. Those who wish to drop by the wake may do so at Msgr Andrade’s parish, the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Valenzuela City.)

From an announcement disseminated by those in-charge of noon masses at the University of Asia and the Pacific as of February 16, 2009. I had the chance to receive this via a forwarded e-mail sent through one of the online groups I belong to:

Friday Noon Masses at UA&P to be Celebrated in Latin

Beginning February 20, the Friday noon Mass at the Stella Orientis Oratory will be celebrated in Latin. The Mass will continue to be the ordinary rite as approved by Vatican II, not the extraordinary rite or the so-called Tridentine Mass.

Celebrating the Friday noon Mass this way will preserve the use of Latin in the liturgy, as encouraged by Pope Benedict XVI. Using Latin in the Mass has never been stopped or prohibited. In the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy ­ Sacrosanctum Concilium ­ the Second Vatican Council, while allowing the use of the vernacular, also affirmed that the “use of the Latin language (…) is to be preserved in the Latin rites.” (no. 36)

The said university’s personnel and students are entrusted with spiritual formation courtesy of the Opus Dei.

N.B. I was fortunate enough to be one of the recepients of this forwarded message courtesy of my very good friend Carlos Antonio Palad of Rorate Caeli. This is the official statement made by Leo Darroch, the president of Una Voce International (a worldwide organisation composed by those who advocate a wider celebration and appreciation for the EFLR according to the Missal of John XXIII) on the restrictions on the TLM as outlined in a recently published set of guidelines from the Archdiocese of Manila.

On reading the guidelines issued by the Archdiocese of Manila on the celebration of Mass in the Extraordinary Form it is clear that whoever drafted these guidelines has not read the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI. The guidelines, signed by Cardinal Gaudencio B. Rosales, Archbishop of Manila, are reproduced here:

ARCHDIOCESAN GUIDELINES ON THE CELEBRATION OF THE MASS ACCORDING TO THE RITE OF THE ROMAN MISSAL PUBLISHED IN 1962 (TRIDENTINE MASS)

In accordance with the norms laid down by the Apostolic Letter, issued motu proprio, of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum, We hereby establish the following guidelines and conditions on the celebration of the Mass according to the rite of the Roman Missal published in 1962 (Tridentine Mass) in the Archdiocese of Manila:

The regulation of the celebration of this extraordinary form of the Mass belongs to the Archbishop of Manila, through the Minister of the Ministry for Liturgical Affairs of the Archdiocese of Manila.

This form of Mass is to be celebrated only at the Christ the King Chapel of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Manila once a month, but not on Sundays and Solemnities.

The presider at this form of celebration should be a priest duly appointed by the Archbishop of Manila.

To ensure the solemnity and orderliness of the celebration of this form of Mass, the participation of other ministers (i.e., lectors, Master of Ceremonies, servers, choir, etc.) in the liturgy is to be determined and regulated by the Ministry for Liturgical Affairs of the Archdiocese of Manila.

The celebration of the extraordinary form of the Mass in this Chapel is open to any individual or group in the Archdiocese of Manila who may have the desire to participate in such celebrations.

Further requests from individuals or groups from the parishes of or who belong to the Archdiocese of Manila to celebrate this form of Mass is to be directed to join the monthly celebration at the Manila Cathedral.

It is highly encouraged that a missal / booklet of the rite in Latin and English be prepared to help the faithful follow the celebration. It is like wise encouraged that those who will participate in this Mass undergo a catechetical orientation before the celebration.

The Archbishop of Manila has jurisdiction over this celebration and, therefore, can decide to limit or discontinue this monthly celebration anytime he judges that this is not consonance with the whole pastoral direction of the Local Church.

Given in Manila, this 8th day of December 2008.

+GAUDENCIO B. CARDINAL ROSALES

Archbishop of Manila

COMMENT:
There is so much in error with these guidelines that even though they mention the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, it is clear that the person who drafted the guidelines cannot possibly have read the Motu Proprio. The writer seems unaware that the previous rigidly-controlled state that existed under the indults of 1988 (Ecclesia Dei adflicta) and 1984 (Quattuor abhinc annos) ended abruptly at midnight on 13th September 2007. Under these indults, people and priests had to obtain permission from their local Ordinary before any celebrations of Mass using the Missal of 1962 could take place. Under Summorum Pontificum, which took effect from midnight on 13th September (i.e. from 14th September 2007), the permission to celebrate Mass according to the Missal of 1962 has been granted by the Supreme Legislator, the Pope, to “each Catholic priest of the Latin rite, whether secular or regular,” to “use the Roman Missal published by Blessed Pope John XXIII in 1962,…and may do so on any day with the exception of the Easter Triduum. For such celebrations……..the priest has no need for permission from the Apostolic See or from his Ordinary.” [Summ. Pont. Art 2]. The fact that one does not need the permission of the local ordinary to celebrate or attend Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form, does not, in itself, derogate from the right of bishops to regulate liturgical matters in their sees. No doubt the Supreme Pontiff took that right into account when he assumed that no Catholic bishop would dissent from the superseding right of the Successor of Peter to regulate the liturgy for the universal Church.

Therefore, not only has any priest of the Latin rite the freedom to celebrate Mass on any day of the year (excluding the Easter Triduum but NOT excluding Sundays), but the Motu Proprio removes a need to obtain permission from anyone – either from the Holy See or his local bishop [Summ. Pont. Art.2].

To comment specifically on the detail of the guidelines:
1. Despite what is said in the opening statement these guidelines are NOT in accordance with the norms laid down by the Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XVI.

2. In Summorum Pontificum, the Supreme Pontiff dispensed local ordinaries from “regulating” the celebration according to the Extraordinary Form when, in his Letter to Bishops accompanying the Motu Proprio, His Holiness states “The present norms are also meant to free Bishops from constantly having to evaluate anew how they are to respond to various situations.”

3 “The presider at this form of celebration should be a priest duly appointed by the Archbishop….” [Guidelines, para.4] There is no ‘presider’ at a Mass in the Extraordinary Form, this is a term introduced with the new rite of Mass. In the Extraordinary Form of Mass there is a ‘celebrant’ who offers up the sacred mysteries acting in persona Christi.

4. Concerning paragraph 5 of the Guidelines – it is the duty of all Sacred Pastors to ensure the solemnity and orderliness of the celebration of ALL forms of liturgy in their diocese so it needs to be explained why the Extraordinary Form requires special attention? As the Extraordinary Form and the Ordinary Form are “two uses of the same rite” [Summ. Pont. Art. 1], is the participation of other ministers (i.e., lectors, Master of Ceremonies, servers, choir, etc.) in the Ordinary Form also to be determined and regulated by the Ministry for Liturgical Affairs of the Archdiocese of Manila?

5. It is commendable that a missal / booklet of the rite in Latin and English be prepared to help the faithful follow the celebration but why should those who wish to participate in this Mass have to undergo a catechetical orientation before the celebration? Will this requirement for a catechetical orientation apply equally to those attending the Ordinary Form?

6. The local Ordinary has jurisdiction over this celebration in the sense that he must ensure that ALL liturgy under his jurisdiction is celebrated in conformity with the laws of the Church. Whatever is decided in relation with the Extraordinary Form of Mass must be decided “in full harmony, however, with all that has been laid down by the new norms of the Motu Proprio” [Letter to Bishops]. It is an abuse of authority, and in disobedience to the law expressed by the Supreme Pontiff, our Holy Father, to interfere in the right granted by the Successor of Peter to any priest in good standing to celebrate the Extraordinary Form of Mass. The Pope, the Supreme Legislator, has issued a DECREE, for the benefit of all priests and faithful of the Roman Rite in the Universal Church and no local bishop can interfere with this law and impose his own conditions in an act of public disobedience to the Vicar of Christ.

The way forward for any priest or member of the faithful is clear. In accordance with article 7 of the Motu Proprio they must contact immediately the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei for clarification and send a copy of the guidelines that obstruct the provisions of Summorum Pontificum. They should write to:

H.E. Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos,

President, Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei,

Palazzo della Congr. per la Dottrina della Fide,

Piazza del Sant Ufficio,

00193 Rome,

ITALY.

Fax: +39 06 69 88 34 12. Email: eccdei@ecclsdei.va.

Leo Darroch, Executive President – International Federation Una Voce.

11th February 2009.

The regular TLM held every Sunday at the Sts. Jerome Emiliani & Susana Parish in Ayala Alabang Village will be temporarily moved to the San Beda Alabang Chapel on Sunday, February 08, 2008, to give way to the regular preparations for the Feast of St Jerome in the parish. The mass will still be celebrated in its usual 9AM schedule, with Fr. Grato Germanetto, CRS as celebrant.

San Beda College Alabang is located inside Alabang Hills Village, Alabang, Muntinlupa City. The current Abbot of the said Alabang Benedictine community is Dom Clement Ma. Roque, OSB who replaced Fr. Anscar Chupungco, OSB in 2008.

For those who are nevertheless curious, here are pictures of both the interior of the chapel and the high school building’s facade:

Photo credit

Please don’t be surprised if the sidebar’s kinda problematic when you browse this blog via Internet Explorer. Apparently IE has gone “stricter” in it’s syntax validations thus even more difficult to please. I am currently resolving the issue via extensive research and referring to various supports for Wordpress templates but I reckon it shall take some time before all things go back to normal.

The sidebar does show up on Mozilla Firefox, though. And browsing the site’s faster, too. So as for now, EFiF is solely compatible with Firefox.

Here are some pictures taken by Bro. Dennis Maturan, the head coordinator of Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph (a Tridentine Latin Mass apostolate to which I belong). These were during the recent Novus Ordo mass celebrated “ad orientem” (literally translated as “facing the east”) held at the PNB Financial Centre in Pasay City, on the first day of the Sto. Nino Exhibit. The mass celebrant was no other than Bishop Camilo Gregorio of the diocese of Batanes.

Viva Sto. Nino! Pit Senor!