THE P RTAL
December 2013
Page 18
Letters to the Editor
From David Murphy
I was very pleased to read your various reports
on the new Ordinariate Order of Mass which
was introduced recently, until I came across John
Adams’ statement that “The Ordinariate Mass is best
described as ‘The Tridentine Rite in English’”, because
in fact nothing could be further from the truth.
The Ordinariate Order of Mass is, in reality, not one
single Mass but rather a liturgical resource which permits
a number of different forms of celebration, all having
their origin in Anglican (or Anglo-Catholic) liturgy.
By selecting a maximum of elements originating
in the Sarum and English Missal traditions (for
example, the Asperges, the Prayers at the Foot of the
Altar, the traditional Offertory rite, the Last Gospel)
and celebrating ad orientem, the liturgist can put
together a Mass format which is highly reminiscent of
the Tridentine Rite in English (and it is probably such
a celebration which John Adams has witnessed).
However, even this single selection of liturgical
elements cannot be “best described” in such a way,
as it will contain several mandatory and emblematic
elements from Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer
(such as the Collect for Purity, the Penitential Rite,
the Prayer of Humble Access, the Thanksgiving
after Communion, the Anglican blessing at the end
of Mass) and above all the language is not merely
English but the sacral Elizabethan English of the
Prayer Book or English Missal.
Similarly by omitting as many Sarum or Tridentine
elements as possible and adding all the available
The Ladies Ordinariate Group (aka LOGS)
have produced
some very nice
Christmass Cards
and an
Ordinariate
Picture Calendar
The cards cost £4:50 for 8
The Picture Calendars cost £6:50
(not including P&P) cheques to
The Ordinariate of OLW - Croydon
Available from:
Mrs. J. Brooks, The Croydon Ordinariate Group,
St Mary’s Church, 70 Wellesley Road,
Croydon CR0 2AR
prayers and rites from the Book of Common Prayer, a
Mass can be celebrated which is highly reminiscent of
a Romanised Book of Common Prayer Communion
Service and bears little resemblance to a Traditional
Roman Rite Mass, apart from the use of the Roman
Canon (or approved alternative Eucharistic Prayer)
which is a prerequisite of any Roman Rite Mass.
It is of course possible to omit as many elements from
either the Traditional Roman Rite Mass or the Prayer
Book Communion as permissible, to (con)celebrate the
Mass facing the people with the whole of the LIturgy of
the Word at the sedilia and one would have the feeling
of attending an Ordinary Form Mass in traditional
English (with some Prayer Book elements).
The new Ordinariate Mass, incorporating elements
from the Roman Rite and Anglican traditions and
permitting a variety of Anglican patrimony Mass
formats is well described as the “Ordinariate Use”
or “Divine Worship”, the two names which are
beginning to crystallise on both sides of the Atlantic.
And above all let’s celebrate and enjoy it.
David Murphy
Germany
The views expressed in these letters are not necessarily those of the Editors
Letters for publication should be sent to:
The Editors, The Portal, 56 Woodlands Farm Road,
Birmingham B24 0PG
[email protected]
‘
We hear much of Bible
Christians, Bible Religion,
Bible Preaching; it would be well
if we heard a little of the Bible
Church also; we venture to say,
that Dissenting Churches would
vanish thereupon at once, for, since
it is their fundamental principle
that they are not a pillar or ground
of truth, but voluntary societies,
without authority and with out
gifts, the Bible Church they
cannot be.
’
Bl John Henry Newman
JHN ‘Private Judgement’
British Critic, July 1841