Maternitatis Beatae Mariae Virginis

In 1931 Pope Pius XI, in commemoration of the 1500 anniversary of the conclusion of the Council of Ephesus, declared 11 October the feast of The Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Blessed Pope John XXIII chose this same feast in 1962 to begin the Second Vatican Council under the patronage of the Theotokos with these words: "Mother Church rejoices that, by the singular gift of Divine Providence, the longed-for day has finally dawned when--under the auspices of the virgin Mother of God, whose maternal dignity is commemorated on this feast--the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council is solemnly opened beside Saint Peter's tomb."

A week earlier he had concluded his last pre-Council general audience with these words of extreme affection. "Only a week separates us from the Council: and the first thought turns naturally to the Most Holy Mother of Jesus and our Mother, Mary, who represents for the light of our eyes and the beating of our hearts all that is most tender and most dear in our families."

It is a bit ironic that the revised Roman Calander took this feast off the calendar and now it is the feast of Blessed Pope John XXIII! I'm sure he is not happy with that. This is iconic for the confusion, liturgical and otherwise, that continues to reign in the post-conciliar Church. Let me give just one other timely example of the ongoing confusion in the Reform of the Reform.

The newly translated Roman Missals have just arrived, to be implemented the first Sunday of Advent. The translation is a great improvement from the 1970 disaster. However, the greatest part of the previous edition was excised--the Latin appendix! The new addition has no Latin! Here is another great post-Conciliar irony with which Blessed Pope John cannot be happy. The new edition of the English Missal--with its countless improvements--has no trace of Latin (or Greek [e.g. Kyrie]) anywhere! I would have expected, after all we have been through, the Latin option in the text, especially for the silent prayers of the priest during the Mass. So that I have to see this as another transitional Missal! Simultaneous Latin in the text should be normative for all translations, if it is to be truly an option!

Another matter brought up by the local liturgists is how many times to strike the breast during the Confiteor. They say once! contrary to the constant and long standing tradition and contrary to the usage in the other translations (e.g. Spanish) where the people have always done the three stikes. The rubrics are not clear saying "striking" but not specifying the number of times. Here again the anti-traditional and wrong-headed interpretation of the "experts" continue to be a tug-of-war resisting the continual Reform of the Reform. We will strike three times!