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• ↓ Ratzinger in 1976 on the “old Missal” and “new Missal”
• ↓ 22 July: Feast of St. Mary Magdalene – A rocky history. Like the saint herself?
• ↓ Daily Rome Shot 1664 – quick
• ↓ VINTAGE RECTORY BATHROOM TILES: 05
• ↓ 20 July – St. Elijah, Prophet of the Old Testament
• ↓ Would a marriage impediment apply in this case
• ↓ Top Alternatives to wdtprs.com

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"I spotted something interesting at Fakebook, posted by Peter Kwasniewski… a letter from Prof. Joseph Ratzinger to Wolfgang Waldstein in 1976."

"Dear Colleague Waldstein, Thank you very much for your kind note. To come straight to the heart of the matter: In my opinion, the aim should be to ensure that all priests may continue to use the old Missal, provided they acknowledge the legitimacy of the new Missal as well. While regulations—certainly necessary for the sake of order and to avoid confusion—will be required, they should be framed in such a way as to allow considerable freedom in the use of the old Missal. To clarify my position, I am taking the liberty of enclosing a photocopy of the letter I sent to Cardinal Volk regarding the Missal issue prior to the First Sunday of Lent. Unfortunately, matters had already progressed to a point where it was deemed impossible to accede to my proposals—proposals which Cardinal Volk himself evidently considered sound. In this context, it is worth noting that the manner in which the new Missal was introduced departs from established ecclesiastical legal customs—such as those observed by Pius V during his reform of the Missal. In that instance, it was explicitly stated that the Pope was by no means abolishing a *consuetudo* (custom) that had been practiced without interruption for over two hundred years (*nequaquam auferimus*). Accordingly, a somewhat different liturgical form remained in use—for example, in Cologne and Trier until the 18th century, and in Milan until the Second Vatican Council, as well as within the Dominican Order; many other examples could easily be cited. The “Missal of Pius V” was not, in fact, a new Missal at all, but merely a version of the existing Roman Missal that had been slightly revised based on historical sources; it represented, therefore, simply another growth ring in a continuous process dating back to Hippolytus. For this reason, I consider the terms “Tridentine Mass” and “Missal of Pius V” to be historically incorrect and theologically disastrous. The problem with the new Missal, by contrast, lies in the fact that it breaks away from this continuous history—which had persisted both before and after Pius V—and creates an entirely new book (albeit one made of old material). Its introduction was accompanied by a type of prohibition regarding what had gone before—a prohibition of a kind entirely alien to the history of ecclesiastical law and liturgy. Based on my knowledge of the Council debates and a re-reading of the speeches delivered by the Council Fathers at the time, I can state with certainty that this was not intended. Admittedly, it is difficult to articulate and defend this view today because it is all too easy to confuse it with the position of Lefebvre—a position of a fundamentally different nature, which is compelled to deny any form of growth and thus places itself in opposition not only to Pius V but also to the very Catholic principle of papal and episcopal authority. For this reason, it seems important to me to emphasize the full legitimacy of the new Missal; yet, on that basis, one can and must advocate for a revision of that prohibition—which runs counter to tradition—so that the course of development may be set right again. It can then be left to the future to decide whether the “new Missal” will flow back into the old one and merge with it, ultimately serving merely as a stage in its growth—for the stagnation of the old Missal would, in the long run, spell its demise; precisely for this reason, one must hope that it will be reintegrated into the living development of the liturgy."

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Ratzinger in 1976 on the “old Missal” and “new Missal”

22 July: Feast of St. Mary Magdalene – A rocky history. Like the saint herself?

Daily Rome Shot 1664 – quick

VINTAGE RECTORY BATHROOM TILES: 05

20 July – St. Elijah, Prophet of the Old Testament

Would a marriage impediment apply in this case