I am teaching at the moment on the new translation of the mass for Anima Education (spare seats in the class still – come if you are able!).
We were talking last Monday night about how the the mass was celebrated in local parishes before the Counciliar reforms of the late sixties. We discovered that only those who were over 55 had any memory of how things were done, and even then, that was usually a fairly limited experience. It is hard for the rest of us to understand the developments in the last 50 years in the Roman Rite of the mass without an accurate knowledge of this real “on-the-ground” history.
So I was thrilled yesterday when I found a lecture by Australian Norbertine priest Fr. William Fitzgerald delivered on October 15, 2008 at Christendom College in the States where he is chaplain. I was following a link from Sonitus Sanctus, and found the lecture on “iTunes U”. It’s called “The Mass: How Extraordinary!”
Fr Fitzgerald is just old enough to have accurate memories of the pre-Conciliar liturgy. He had experience both at St Mary’s Cathedral and in his local home parish. His description of how things developed during the sixties is very valuable. He says a lot of other important things about the development of the Mass over the centuries. I will be recommending this to my class for listening.
It can be downloaded for free from the iTunes store if you go to “iTunes U” and then search for “Christendom College” and select “Library Events”. I think that this link will work too, but you probably need iTunes installed to download it.
BTW I hate iTunes – I find it really unfriendly.
