The Occasional Observer

Y'all might recall last summer that the Holy Father declared that the traditional tridentine mass was again licit, within certain bounds.

Well, here in the DRVC not much has happened that I'm aware of. No Latin Mass has been added to my parish or any of the surrounding parishes, and the Pastor at one local church I attended for daily mass plainly disclosed they had no intention of offering the traditional rite.

The Holy Father is apparently not done instituting reforms. According to this article, he has charged the Congregation for Divine Worship to "study some modifications" to the Novus Ordo (that is, post-Vatican II, now "standard") liturgy:

In particular, the Pope is said to have the intention to restore Latin for the formula for the Eucharistic consecration within the Mass in the "vernacular language", i.e. the one celebrated in the different national languages. The same could happen to the formulae of Baptism, Confirmation, Confession and of the other sacraments. In addition, the exchange of peace among the faithful during the Mass, which today takes place prior to the distribution of the Eucharist, could be anticipated (as in the Ambrosian rite) to the offertory so as not to disturb the recollection that precedes Communion.

These would be changes which would be added to the changes in the liturgy and regarding sacred vestments which the Pope, together with his Master of Ceremonies, Monsignor Guido Marini, has made in recent months, to recover ancient traditions: the restoration of the crucifix at the center of the altar, the distribution of Communion to the faithful in the mouth while kneeling, the recovery of the pastoral staff of Pius IX (the ferula), the changing of the style of pallium (the strip of white wool with red crosses worn by the Pope), the restoration of the papal throne used in the Consistory and the celebration of Mass with the back to the assembly, as happened in January in the Sistine Chapel. [my emphasis]

Goody, goody gumdrops. I pray that our overtaxed Priests (and our Bishops) will be open to implementing these reforms when the time comes, although undoubtedly it will not be easy.