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Contents © 2005
by Jim Holman.
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ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
December 2005

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HOLY CROSS TRIDENTINE MASS, SAN DIEGO

Holy Cross Cemetery Chapel is home to San Diego's only episcopally-authorized Tridentine Latin Mass congregation. In February 1985, Bishop Leo Maher granted an indult for restoration of the Tridentine rite to the faithful of San Diego. In accordance with Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter Ecclesia Dei, Bishop Brom renewed the Indult; however, he has never granted permission to form a parish. The Mass is celebrated at 9:00 a.m. every Sunday and on other Holy Days as announced, with confessions heard beforehand, but no other sacraments are available in the old rite.

Bishop Brom has appointed two Norbertine Priests of Saint Michael's Abbey in Silverado (Orange County), Fathers John Caronan and Victor Szczurek, as current chaplains. The mausoleum chapel setting creates a sense of communion with the faithful departed who were nurtured in the ancient Latin Mass.

I attended a Missa cantata (sung Mass) on November 13th. Father John Caronan celebrated. The Holy Cross choir sang the 10th Century Missa Orbis Factor. The choir rendered the Gregorian plainsong with precision. The propers were for the sixth Sunday after Epiphany, sometimes used for one of the last Sundays after Pentecost.

The chapel's 300-person seating capacity was half full by 8:30 when the Rosary began. By the time Mass started it was standing room only. Though I saw many hoary heads in attendance, at least half of those present were young and growing families. The diversity included an Anglo majority with a representation of Hispanics, some Asians, and a few Blacks. Over three-fourths of the women wore head-coverings.

At the entrance procession the choir and congregation joined in singing Come Holy Ghost, music by Luis Lambillotte, S.J., English text of Edward Caswall, from the original Latin of Blessed Rabanus Maurus. I have attended Tridentine Masses where the people were silent during vernacular hymns. This congregation sang heartily both in the hymns and many liturgical responses. I later learned that chaplain emeritus Father Harry Neeley had encouraged congregational singing.

Other choral anthems and songs: During the offertory the choir sang the Ave Maria of Jacob Arcadelt (born at the turn of the 16th Century. At Communion we heard Adoramus Te by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and O Sacrum Convivium by Giovanni Croce. The exit hymn was Daily, Daily Sing to Mary, traditional melody, translation by Father Henry Bittleston of Omni die dic Mariae by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.

In accordance with tradition, only boys and men served at the altar. The acolytes all wore black cassocks and white surplices.

Father John chanted the liturgical lessons in Latin while facing the altar; the epistle from the south side and the Gospel from the north -- representing the realm of darkness into which the Church proclaims the light of Christ. At the time of the sermon, Father, standing at the lectern, read both lessons in English from the 1941 Confraternity Version. The epistle, from Saint Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, recalled how the believers had received the word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit and brought forth its fruit in their lives. The Gospel, Saint Matthew 13:31-35, set before us our Lord's parables of the tiny mustard seed which became a great tree and a dwelling for the birds, and the leaven hidden in three measures of flour which leavened the whole batch.

Father John's sermon: Jesus' parable of the mustard seed pictures the growth and development of the Church, which is the kingdom of God on earth. It began very small -- with twelve leaders, who had been fishermen and tax collectors, gathered in prayer with the Virgin. Yet after the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost it grew within a few decades to a countless number in every part of the Roman Empire. By the middle of the third century the numbers and influence of the Church had grown to the point that the persecuting Emperor Decius (249-251) declared, "I would rather have a rival for my throne than a Christian Bishop in this city." And so it has continued to this day, as people of every nation on earth have entered the Church and found salvation.

However, Father John emphasized, the growth of the kingdom is not only outward, but also takes place in our souls. Father John stressed that the kingdom of God within each baptized Catholic is the presence of sanctifying grace which we are called to help God increase within us. We are not called to perform extraordinary feats, but to do our daily duties in the state of grace. We must not forget that even simple acts done in the state of grace acquire a supernatural merit worthy of eternal salvation. We need to be aware that in doing these simple things we are really building the kingdom of God on earth.

As I greeted Father John after Mass I said, "Nothing is perfect in this world, but that sermon was close." He responded with a modest, "Thank you."

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