My regular correspondent reports,
In the process of determining whether Fr Chalmers brought a congregation with him (He didn't. St Anselm, Greenville was a gathered group, passed on to Fr Duncan when Fr Chalmers left in 2015 to take a job in Birmingham, AL; now closed.) I came across this account of a Divine Worship mass apparently being offered as of this Lent at Holy Rosary, Birmingham, of which Fr Chalmers has been Pastor since 2017, while continuing with his school job . Looking at recent bulletins on the parish website, and at the homepage, however, it seems this was a brief and unsuccessful experiment.
The idea of a Divine Worship mass -- Latin for traddies who don't speak Latin -- at a diocesan parish is intriguing. And during Lent it's intriguing indeed.
- Our diocesan parish sings the Latin Gloria, Sanctus, memorial acclamation, and Agnus Dei at mass during Advent, Lent, Easter, Christmas, and other solemnities. But that's Latin, which all Latin rite Catholics have in common whatever their linguistic background. To turn around and celebrate a liturgical season mass with schismatic artifacts from a single country that not every Latin rite Catholic has in common is problematic.
- Diocesan parishes often have ethnic groups with particular traditions, which are especially celebrated in seasons like Advent, Christmas, Easter, and Lent. But these are typically adopted because there are lots of people from those backgrounds in the parish. (And hey, gimme that Filipino food!) But a parish with lots of Italians isn't necessarily going to have Filipino novenas. What on earth was the rationale for suddenly adding a DW mass to that Birmingham parish?
- And why Lent? My understanding is that as a season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, Lenten devotions should somehow make you feel the bite. You don't decide you're going to give up washing the dishes for Lent, after all, you decide to do something that's going to be hard. So hey, let's celebrate a mass we don't like! How about this long one with extra prayers, thee-thous, and a Last Gospel! That should be plenty more tedious for Lent!
So I've got to assume Fr Chalmers has a tin ear, at least where the Divine Worship missal is concerned. He seems to think it's something to impose on people who aren't familiar with it, and this is good, because it's something to rap their knuckles with during Lent. And I'm still reflecting on a homily from a visiting priest who commended Francis's apostolic exhortation
Evangelii Gaudium to us, for instance
6. There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter. I realize of course that joy is not expressed the same way at all times in life, especially at moments of great difficulty. Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light. . .
Yet Fr Chalmers sees the Divine Worship Missal as something to be imposed on Catholics of all traditions, especially during Lent, apparently because it's unpleasant. Well, he
has degrees from both Harvard and Yale. Says a lot about Harvard and Yale.
