Another "reader writes" item following the one I posted yesterday: this is something that a priest-reader of this blog emailed to me, and has given me permission to share, after I've made the letter anonymous by expunging names. It's a letter recently sent by a liturgical regulator of his religious community to members of the community.
When I first read this astonishing document, I thought, "What a great spoof! Somebody has really gotten that broomstick-up-the-nether-regions pomposity of a self-important little church martinet just right."
And then I learned, to my surprise, that the letter was written in deadly earnest, and that the letter writer takes his position of liturgical watchdog and his degree in canon law with bone-dry seriousness. The letter sent to all priests in this particular religious community recently states:
Dear Fr.,
It has been reported on a number of websites that the Holy See has decided to insert the name of St. Joseph into the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Eucharistic Prayers. As many of you may recall, our Provincial Chapter recommended this very idea in 2006 (See 2006 Acts of the Provincial Chapter, № 59).
However, these same websites have also been reporting that priests can or must insert the name of St. Joseph in the Eucharistic Prayers immediately. This is not the case. Laws of universal applicability come into force three months after they are promulgated through their official publication in Acta Apostolicae Sedis. This can be waived by the Holy See, but it must be done specifically and expressly in the decree. This current decree has not even been officially promulgated yet.
Therefore, unless we receive an official announcement saying otherwise, priests should not yet insert the name of St. Joseph into the other Eucharistic prayers. If we hear any updates, the Liturgical Commission will inform the Province.
If you have any questions, please feel free to send them to me at the email address below.
This message is being sent out to the entire province. Superiors are asked to share this information with those who do not use email.
DO NOT PRAY TO ST. JOSEPH UNTIL I INSTRUCT YOU TO DO SO!!! Laws of universal applicability come into force three months after they are promulgated through their official publication in Acta Apostolicae Sedis. This can be waived by the Holy See, but it must be done specifically and expressly in the decree. This current decree has not even been officially promulgated yet.
The priest who shared this letter with me adds in his email, "The Vatican Bank mess, scandals with sex, scandals with money, rank clericalism, sexism, homophobia, racism, injustice, poverty, world hunger, famine, the environment, unemployment, immigration, war . . . and what the f--k do we waste ink on? Go figure??????"
And he's right. In spades.
P.S. The Commonweal crowd have also been kicking around this St. Joseph-in-the-Mass story. We Catholics do so love to focus, ad intra, on really important issues and really significant challenges facing the Catholic church in these latter days.
