Sunday, January 20, 2013

Extraordinary Community News


"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"

Tridentine Community News (January 20, 2013):
Recommended Books

From time to time we bring to the attention of our readers some books that may be of interest.

The Baronius Press Breviary


The long-anticipated three-volume Breviary from Baronius Press is finally shipping, albeit in fits and starts as demand continues to exceed supply. Derived from the 1963 Collegeville Breviary, this is the first comprehensive Latin/English Breviary to be published for the Extraordinary Form Divine Office in 50 years.

A copy of the booklet Learning the Traditional Breviary is included with each order, to help those users who are new to the Divine Office to understand and pray it.

On the plus side, there is no more up-to-date, more comprehensive, more thoroughly proofread Breviary available from anyone else. For those intending to pray the official Latin text of the Divine Office, this edition is the best one available today.

Some readers may be disappointed to discover that the Confraternity translation of the Bible was used. The majority of hand missals and other liturgical books in English employ the Douay-Rheims translation of Sacred Scripture. The former lacks the “thee and thou” formality of the latter. However, this is a small gripe as Article 32 of the May, 2011 Vatican document Univérsæ Ecclésiæ clarifies that the Extraordinary Form Breviary may not be prayed in the vernacular by those obliged to pray the Divine Office. The English is a reference, not a liturgical text. Laypeople who pray the Divine Office by choice rather than by obligation may arguably pray the vernacular side, but equally arguably, that would be crossing the boundaries of what the Church understands to constitute the official EF Divine Office.

The Knox Bible

A reader who happens to be a biblical scholar suggested that we point out another new offering from Baronius Press: their new reprint of the Knox Bible. Comprised of a translation from the Latin Vulgate by Msgr. Ronald Knox of the New Testament, completed in 1945, and the Old Testament, completed in 1950, the Knox Bible is best known as the source of the English translations of the readings and Propers in Masses in England from the mid 1960s through the early 1970s. Certain Latin-English hand missals for the Tridentine Mass printed in England such as the recently reprinted Layman’s Missal take their translations of Sacred Scripture from the Knox Bible. Some find the Knox Bible more accessible than the Douay-Rheims, while others critique the “dynamic equivalence” philosophy used in its translations. It is certainly a translation worthy of study.

The Raccolta


On several occasions this column has mentioned the USCCB’s 2006 edition of the Manual of Indulgences and the official Latin text on which it is based, the 2004 Enchíridion Indulgentiárum published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana. It is important for readers to understand that there is no distinction between Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms with regards to the list of prayers and acts which are enriched by Holy Mother Church with Indulgences. That being said, readers may still be interested in perusing the pre-Vatican II edition of the same book, Loreto Publications reprint of the 1957 edition of The Raccolta. While the statements of which prayers earn indulgences are no longer valid, the prayers themselves are a solid, meritorious collection. The Raccolta is a little less reader-friendly than The Blessed Sacrament Prayerbook or Blessed Be God, two popular reprinted collections of traditional prayers and devotions, but its presentation of the Latin original text of many of the prayers alongside the English is welcome and convenient.

St. Hyacinth Mass

The next Tridentine High Mass at Detroit’s St. Hyacinth Church will be held on Sunday, February 10 at 1:00 PM. The celebrant will be Fr. Pieter van Rooyen.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
  • Mon. 01/21 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (St. Agnes, Virgin & Martyr)
  • Tue. 01/22 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Assumption-Windsor (Ss. Vincent & Anastasius, Martyrs)
[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Josaphat (Detroit) and Assumption (Windsor) bulletin inserts for January 20, 2013. Hat tip to A.B., author of the column.]

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