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| Fr. John Zuhlsdorf |
This is a bit
belated, but I wanted to write something up anyway. Last week,
Tuesday-Thursday 11-13 March we had the first, hopefully at least
annual, Lenten Mission at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate
Conception. As a convert from Protestantism, the easiest way I know
to define what a “mission” is in this sense is to call it a
“Catholic Revival” – a speaker, often a guest, delivers a
series of services on consecutive evenings. This year we were truly
blessed to have Father John Zuhlsdorf, often called (for obvious
reasons) “Father Z,” a Catholic commentator and blogger, and (in
the words of Wikipedia), advocate “for reverent celebration of
both the Ordinary Form and the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite
liturgy of the Mass and the revival of the Sacrament of Penance”
[LINK]. I
had discovered his blog, at the time known as What Does the Prayer
Really Say, now going by simply Father Z's Blog [LINK],
a couple of years ago, and have followed it assiduously ever since.
I was very excited to hear a few months ago that he was coming here,
knowing that we were in for a treat – doubly so since I found out
in the context of one of our Latin Schola practices and that Father Z
was going to culminate the mission with a full on Solemn High Mass –
the first celebrated here in Natchitoches for fifty years. A
website I found for the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, best defines
the three levels of celebration in the Traditional Latin Mass:
“First, there is the Low Mass. This is a Mass where the priest
says all the prayers without singing and is only assisted by one or
two servers. … Second, there is High Mass also known as a Sung
Mass (Missa Cantata) where the parts that are said aloud in the Low
Mass are sung by the priest and the choir. [This is what we
celebrate at the Basilica every Sunday evening at 17:00.] Lastly,
there is the Solemn High Mass where the spoken parts are sung and the
Celebrant is assisted by two other sacred ministers: the Deacon and
the Subdeacon” [LINK;
there are other good Q&A links there at left]. I can only hope
and pray that I have the opportunity to experience such a beautiful
Mass again before I die.
