For the first time in forty years...

... the High Mass according to the old rite will be celebrated tomorrow in St. Peter's Basilica. The celebrant, reports Robert Moynihan of Inside the Vatican, will be Archbishop Raymond Burke:

When I returned home, I found an email from Alberto waiting for me. Here it is:
 
"Normally conferences and symposiums are relevant for the message their organisers intend to convey to the public through the speeches and lectures of their speakers, but in the case of the 2nd Conference on the Motu prorio Summorum Pontificum (16-18 October 2009), entitled The Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum by Benedict XVI: A Great Gift for the Whole Church, the reality was a bit different. 
 
"The three-day event, which was held in the religious institute Bonus Pastor in via Aurelia not far from the Vatican walls, was significant not only for what its speakers said, mostly focused on the sacredness and beauty of the pre-Vatican II liturgy, but especially for the announcement that the proceedings will be capped by a solemn pontifical Mass in the old Latin rite in St. Peter’s Basilica.
 
"The announcement was made by Dominican Father Vincenzo Nuara from the Dominican Sicilian province of Acireale-Catania, during his introduction of the conference proceedings the second day, Saturday morning, October 17th, 2009. 

"Father Nuara is the founder and spiritual leader of the group organizing the conference, Giovani e Tradizione (Youth and Tradition), an association of young people based in Acireale in Sicily. 
 
"The symposium saw the participation of many hundreds of clergy, nuns and faithful interested in the traditional liturgy, including senior representatives of traditionalist religious and lay organisations, such as the Fraternity of St Peter, the Institute Christ the King Sovereign Priest, the Fede&Cultura publishing company, Centro Culturale Lepanto, and many others.
 
"Among the speakers were Monsignor Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Karaganda in Kazakhstan; Monsignor Valentino Miserachs, the chief of the Pontifical Institute for Sacred Music; Abbot Michael John Zielinski, deputy president of the Pontifical Commission for the Church’s Heritage and Sacred Archaeology; Monsignor Professor Brunero Gherardini, dean emeritus of the faculty of Theology at the Lateran University; and Father Stefano Manelli, founder and superior of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. 
 
"The pontifical High Mass will be celebrated by His Excellency Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, at 10:00 am in the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel, for the first time after 40 years. In fact, the last celebration of such a solemn pontifical Mass in the Basilica took place in 1969.
 
"After the Mass, the faithful who have participated in the conference and attended the Mass will move to St. Peter’s Square for the Pope's Angelus prayer. It is hoped that they will be graced by the Pope’s encouragement for their staunch support of the papal motu proprio allowing the old rite to be more widely celebrated."

Moynihan's full report (which I received by e-mail) is not yet up on "The Moynihan Report", but can be read on The New Liturgical Movement site.

UPDATE (Oct. 18, 2009): Photos from the High Mass, on an Italian blog.

Comments

[Kim Jordan]

Deo gratias!

[Thomas]

AWESOME!

Think of how far we've come. I just hope EWTN broadcasts the Mass. Is the Holy Father expected to be in choir?

[Randy]

I hear Burke has been appointed to the Congregation for Bishops. That means he gets to have much more influence on future bishop appointments. This is a good thing. Same thing with the Spanish Cardinal who was also put on the same board. He has been called little Ratzinger. We need more rats in the hierarchy!

[Robert Miller]

What worries me is that so many who love the Forma Extraordinaria and sound moral doctrine don't seem to understand (or want to understand) the ecclesiological and eschatological vision that made the motu proprio possible. We really need to read Ratzinger "whole", understanding that his real objective is to give the 1962 Missal life again, so that it can begin to develop again. (I served Mass using the previous version of the Missal, and I can remember the few, minor changes. I also remember the "dialogue Mass" of the late 1950s, which it might be useful to reinstitute -- I don't think the main principle of the "old" Mass was that the congregation was supposed to remain mute).

Anyway, I hope Benedict will soon celebrate in forma extraordinaria at the High Altar at St. Peter's. Whether he does or not, Viva il Papa!