“The Burning Babe”: a poem by Fr. Robert Southwell, S.J.

Fr. Victor Badillo, S.J. sent us a poem for Christmas, saying:

May the burning Babe fill your heart with burning love and zeal.  In lieu
of a Christmas card, here is the poem composed by Robert shivering and
hungry in a cold prison awaiting his life-giving death at the hands of the
executioner of Elizabeth.

THE BURNING BABE.
By Robert Southwell, sj

As I in hoary winter’s night stood shivering in the snow,
Surprised I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow;
And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire was near,
A pretty babe all burning bright did in the air appear;
Who, scorchëd with excessive heat, such floods of tears did shed
As tho his floods should quench his flames which w his tears were fed.

*

Alas, quoth he, but newly born in fiery heats I fry,
Yet none approach to warm their hearts or feel my fire but I !
My faultless breast the furnace is, the fuel wounding thorns,
Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke, the ashes shame and scorns ;
The fuel justice layeth on, and mercy blows the coals,
The metal in this furnace wrought are men’s defilëd souls,

*

For which, as now on fire I am to work them to their good,
So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my blood.
With this he vanished out of sight and swiftly shrunk away,
And straight I callëd unto mind that it was Christmas day.

A conversation with Dr. Tess Perez: There are ghosts at the Manila Observatory

Yesterday, Dr. Tess Perez and I met at the Manila Observatory’s lobby.  Dr. Perez is with the Environmental Science Deparment which holds office at the MO’s basement.  We both talked in Ilonggo: she is from Iloilo; I am from Bacolod.

“Hi, Ma’m Tess,” I greeted her.  “You are still doing some research?”

“Yes,” she said. “I came here to check our set-up.  We are extracting oil from algae.”

“Really?” I asked.  “Does the algae die when you extract oil from them?”

“Yes, of course,” she said.

Her cellphone rang.  She tried not to answer it, but I asked her to answer it.

We were sitting on lobby benches in front of the porter’s cell.  She was sitting beside the door; I sat on the other bench perpendicular to hers.  Through the open door I can see MO’s garage, the trees with shrikes, the carless road, and the silent football field.  Ateneo is empty this Christmas.  It’s a ghost town.

“You know, Pope,” she said after closing her phone.  “My student and I were having an experiment December 31 of last year.  We were trying to monitor the ambient temperature.  Our set up is a flask with distilled water.  The flask is covered with a rubber stopper and the thermometer is inserted through it.  When we came back the next morning, the rubber stopper is gone and the thermometer was broken on the floor.  I cleaned up the Mercury spill.”

“How can rubber stopper pop?” she asked.

“A gas must have accumulated in the flask,” I said.

“I know,” she said.  “But I checked its properties: tasteless, odorless.  I know if it is another chemical.  I asked the staff if it is really distilled water that he gave.  He said yes.”

“This thing is giving me the creeps.  There are already many unexplained happenings here at the Observatory.  I have heard many stories from the staffs and the guards.  There was one time that we placed a book in front of us.  We are sure that it was in front of us.  And the next thing that we knew it was already on the shelf.  Are these the souls of Jesuit priests?  I must talk to Toni about this.”

“There are only two possibilities,” I replied.  “Fr. Jocis Syquia, an Exorcist of the Diocese of Manila, said that these may be either souls of the dead or demons.  If they are souls, they will not harm you; then they only need prayers and mass.  If they are demons, they will really harass and harm you.”

“So what do we do?” she asked.

“Maybe it is time to call an official ghostbuster, an exorcist,” I said.  “Fr. Syquia has a team.  Some of those in his team can sense spirits.”

“Maybe we really need to have the Observatory blessed.” she said.

“Blessing is not enough,” I said.  “There is a rite for exorcism of places.  Exorcised salt must be placed on the corners of the rooms.”

“I will not be surprised if there are ghosts or demons in the Observatory.” I said to her.  “The neighboring building is the Mass Communications Building.  I heard that a group of Spirit Questors opened a portal there.  Once a portal is opened, through it spirits come and go.”

This is only my theory.  A year ago, a Mass Comm teacher told me about some ghost stories in the Mass Comm building.  She mentioned something about a portal.  About three years ago, I also met a youth asking me one night where the Spirit Questors are.  I was walking near the Ateneo Blue Eagle gym then.  My guess is that it is the Spirit Questors who opened the portal.  According to Fr. Syquia, occult activities like trying to communicate with spirits leaves a mark on the place, which attracts demons.

A student came out of the Observatory’s basement and Dr. Tess called out to her.  Dr. Tess greeted each other a Happy New Year and we parted.  I went back to the Ionosphere building.  Some staff said there are ghosts, too, at the Ionosphere building, but I haven’t experienced any manifestations, even if I usually leave 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.  My guardian angel is taking care of me.

Letter to the Ateneo Latin Mass Society (ALMS): We have a stable group

29 December 2009
Feast of St. Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury

Dear Ateneo Latin Mass Society Members,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Lord is gracious. We now have a stable group for the Traditional Latin Mass in Ateneo de Manila University.

In this letter, I would like to share with you two things: (1) a short history of our group and (2) what lies ahead for us at the start of year 2010.

I.  SOME BITS OF HISTORY

17 Dec 2008. Mr. Rene Raneses Jr. of the Political Science Department launched the Ateneo Latin Mass Society (ALMS) blog, http://ateneo-latin-mass-society.blogspot.com/ . He made two posts. The first is a call to join the ALMS. The second is a series of statements under the following headings: Who we are, why do we exist, what is the basis of our existence, what are our goals, does one need to learn Latin in order to assist in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass? There was not much response.

27 Jul 2009. My friend and I went to a Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) at the Parish of the Lord of Divine Mercy (PLDM) in Sikatuna, Quezon City. The presiding priest is Fr. Michell Joe Zerrudo. In his homily, he announced that on the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, 31 July 2009, Fr. Timoteo Ofrasio, S.J. shall celebrate a TLM at PLDM at 8:30 a.m.

31 Jul 2009. The Feast of St. Ignatius. After the mass, I was able to meet Fr. Tim Ofrasio, S.J. I e-mailed him after and asked for a copy of his homily.

3 Aug 2009. Fr. Tim sent me his homily and I published it in my Monk’s Hobbit blog, http://monkshobbit.wordpress.com/.

28 Aug 2009. The Feast of St. Augustine of Hippo. In my blog I made a call to form the TLM stable group in Ateneo de Manila University. There was still not much response.

4 Nov 2009. The Feast of St. Charles Borromeo. I was asked by the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate to ask Fr. Tim if he wants to say a TLM in their convent in Novaliches. During our conversation in Loyola House of Studies lobby, Fr. Tim asked me if I have formed the stable group for the TLM. I told him I have about seven (7) who are interested to hear the Latin mass. I asked him if I can use his name in the Blueboard invitation for the TLM. He gave me his permission. But there was a problem with my Ateneo e-mail account. I was not able to make the announcement.

19 Nov 2009. I submitted a design proposal for the short-term renovation of the Manila Observatory Chapel to Mrs. Antonia Yulo Loyzaga, the Director of the Manila Observatory. She asked me to lead the renovation committee a few months before. This chapel is 9.3 m x 4.8 m, which can accommodate only about 30-35 people. The design simply transfers the Tabernacle at the center on top of a platform where candlesticks may also be placed on the sides. The altar is movable so that it can be free standing for the New Mass or pushed to the wall for the TLM. The committee’s problem is to determine the costs—labor, varnish, pews, etc. Mrs. Loyzaga would still look for the money for the renovation. But she already gave me her permission to use the chapel for TLM.

23 Nov 2009. The Ateneo Latin Mass Society Yahoo group was launched:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ateneolatinmass/ . There were seven members in the group, mostly Ateneo students who are recruits of Enrico Villacorta (IV BS Physics). The group was not able to meet.

15 Dec 2009. My Ateneo e-mail account was finally fixed. I sent an invitation to form the TLM stable group in the Ateneo Blueboard.

29 Dec 2009. The Feast of St. Thomas of Canterbury. Our Yahoo group now has 19 members, with about 13 from the Ateneo. Four (4) members of the choir of the Parish of Our Lord of Divine Mercy (PLDM) are with us and they are students from UST and UP. Some of our members may not be able to join our meetings or our masses, yet they support us in many ways. So even if we come from different schools, even if we come from different countries, we all share one thing in common: we want to restore the Traditional Latin Mass in Ateneo de Manila University.

There are others who are not officially members of our group, but are interested to join us during a TLM at the Ateneo. I think we can reach 30 for each mass, or even more. Let us spread the word.

II. WHAT LIES AHEAD

A. Long-Term Goals

We need to organize ourselves and create an institution that shall outlive us. We need to create a Constitution that shall define our Mission and Vision, our Organizational Structure, and our Laws and Regulations. We need to make a clear and transparent accounting system, because we will soon be handling money from mass collections and donations. We need to provide a continuous training program for the choir and altar servers who shall set the standard for solemn pontifical masses in the Philippines. We need to have a Center for Latin Language Studies. We need to have a stable group of Jesuit priests who can celebrate solemn pontifical masses. We need to increase the number of our members from our tiny group of nineteen (19) to the whole population of the Ateneo de Manila University.

We need to extend our vision farther. We need to establish ALMS chapters in all Ateneo schools in the country and help other schools establish their own Latin Mass Societies. The more universal is our mission, the more we give greater glory to God.

B. Short-Term Goals

We need to meet as a group and divide ourselves into committees: choir, altar servers, publications, and finance. Please email me your free times for the second week of classes (11-16 January 2010); the deadline for submission is 6 January 2010. In this way, I would have sufficient time to reserve a venue for us at the Ateneo de Manila University. Fr. Timoteo Ofrasio, S.J. will be back at the Loyola House of Studies on 3 January 2009. I shall also ask his free time, so that I can formally present you to him as the Ateneo Latin Mass Society.

Agenda for the Meeting:

1.Introduction of Fr. Timoteo Ofrasio, S.J.
2.Introduction of each member of the Ateneo Latin Mass Society
3.Target date for the first TLM in Ateneo de Manila University
4.Break-up into committees

These are the tasks of the committees:
Choir

1. Determine the capabilities of each member
2. Choose a music director, vice- music director, and secretary
3. Decide on the Gregorian chant pieces for the mass
4. Decide on the days and times of practice
5. Determine the availability of an organ for the practice and for the mass

Altar Servers

1. Determine the capabilities of each member
2. Choose a head sacristan, vice- head sacristan, and secretary
3. Choose a manual for altar servers and determine its purchase or reproduction cost
4. Decide on the days and times of practice
5. Determine the complete set of vestments for each sacristan and the cost to purchase each set.

Publications

1. Determine the capabilities of each member
2. Choose a head writer, assistant. head writer, and secretary
3. Choose a photographer and blog manager
4. Decide if Mr. Rene Raneses Jr.’s blog,
http://ateneo-latin-mass-society.blogspot.com/, will remain as his personal blog or will be adopted as the ALMS official blog/website.
5. Decide on a blog/website layout.
6. Determine the purchase/reproduction cost of 50 missalettes that contain the unchanging parts of the mass.

Finance

1. Determine the capabilities of each member
2. Choose a treasurer, accountant/bookkeeper, and secretary
3. Decide on a bank where the Ateneo Latin Mass Society can open its bank account
4. Determine the signatories required for withdrawing money from the bank account
5. Describe protocols for counting the mass collections and depositing them in the bank account.
6. Describe protocols for fund or refund requests from choir, altar servers, and publications committees
7. Determine how the Acknowledgment Receipt (for mass collections and donations) and Payment Receipt (for priests) will be made with Ateneo Latin Mass Society’s name.

Please choose a committee that you want to be part of and prepare for the meeting. Our meetings would accomplish much in a short time if we have our notes and materials on hand. I would like also to ask the committee secretaries to send me the minutes of their meetings within a week after our general assembly, so that I can write a summary of our proceedings.

PRAYER

†

May the holy Lord, almighty Father, and eternal God vouchsafe to send His holy Angel from heaven to guard, cherish, protect, visit, and defend the Ateneo Latin Mass Society. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Mary for you! For your white and blue!
We pray you’ll keep us, Mary, constantly true!
We pray you’ll keep us, Mary, faithful to you!

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us.

St. Thomas a Becket, pray for us.

†

In the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,

Dr. Quirino M. Sugon Jr.
Coordinator
Ateneo Latin Mass Society

Directory of Traditional Latin Masses in the Philippines

Carlos Palad has prepared a list of the Traditional Latin Masses in the Philippines as of 15 Dec 2009.  He also provided his commentaries.  Please check them out in the Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph website.

Fr. Victor Badillo, S.J. on Presidential Candidates Noynoy Aquino and Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro

Last Monday, five of us from the Manila Observatory visited Fr. Badillo, S.J. in the Jesuit Residence Infirmary.  With me are Nino , Genie, Glen, and Dr. Faye Cruz.  We were not able to visit him last week because of the endless Christmas parties.  We talked for more than 30 minutes.  At 79, his body was weakened by several operations.  Though he cannot anymore return to work, his natural humorous self has come back.

At one point of our conversation, one of us asked Fr. Badillo who is his presidential candidate.

“Gilbert Teodoro, of course,” he replied.  “Is there any body else?”

“Whom are you voting for?” Fr. Badillo asked Genie.

“Noynoy Aquino,” Genie said.

“But Noynoy is not very intelligent.  In fact, he has done nothing.”  Fr. Badillo said.  “Gibo is very intelligent.”

“They said he was trained in Harvard,” Genie said.  “Gibo came to the Manila Observatory months ago, Father.”

“Was he still the NDCC (National Disaster Coordinating Council) Chairman then?” Fr. Badillo asked.

“Yes, Father,” replied Genie.

“I know his father,” Fr. Badillo said.  “He was the head of the SSS before during the time of President Marcos.  Imagine all those money.  But Teodoro never stole money from SSS.  He is an honest man.  And I remember Gibo say: ‘I will not tarnish the name of my father’.”

Frank Chow of the Vancouver Traditional Mass Society visits the Manila Observatory’s Chapel

I.  A Mysterious E-mail

I received an email from a certain fjch1 with a title “Best Wishes”.  I thought it was a spam.  But I opened it anyway.  And I read:

I’m an Ateneo alumnus (BS Bio 1976) who lives in Vancouver, British
Columbia. My wife and I attend Holy Family Parish, a Traditional Mass
parish in the care of the FSSP, and I am also on the board of the
Vancouver Traditional Mass Society. We come to Manila every December and
I’m excited to learn about your efforts to bring the Traditional Mass to
the Ateneo campus. It looks like you may already have found your stable
group, if the number of members of this Yahoo Group is any indication.

I would be interested in meeting you sometime (I’ve been following your
blog for a number of months). What will your schedule be like during the
Christmas holidays? We’ll be leaving for Vancouver on January 11, so I
could also look you up on campus when classes resume in the new year.

Yesterday he gave me his phone number and I gave him mine.

II.  Where Have All the Jesuits Gone?

Today, at 7:30 a.m. he texted me that he dropped off something at the Jesuit Residence.  He wondered whether I am already in the office.  I told him that I will be in school in an hour.  I was still riding the jeepney to Guadalupe then.  I thought he already left.  But at about 8:30 a.m. he texted me that he is touring around grade school.  He wondered if I am nearby.  I informed him that I am already on in Katipunan.  I shall be at the Observatory in 5 minutes.

When I arrived at the Observatory, I met Frank at the entrance door of the Observatory.  We shook hands.  He told me that he went to the Ateneo Grade School to visit the Chapel of the Holy Angels where he once served.  He said that there was once an altar attached to the wall there aside from the new altar.  The Tabernacle is still at the center, but the old altar is gone.

We went to the third floor of the Observatory to see the chapel. The third floor used to be the Residence Hall of the Manila Observatory’s Jesuit scientists.  But the Jesuits are gone and the community there was dissolved.  The remaining Jesuits at the Observatory is 86-year old Fr. Sergio Su, S.J. who studies the focal mechanism of earthquakes, and the 70(?)-year old Fr. David Skelsky, S.J., who made possible the transfer of many Standards equipments from the U.S.   He is currently assembing and fixing them.   But Fr. Skelsky is only on a loan; he will be back to the U.S. soon.

At the end of the stairs, a lattice of woodbeams barred our way.  Who locked this?  There is no knob.  Frank suggested to look for a latch or something on the opposite side.  I can find none.  Hmmm… I moved the woodbeams to the side.  It moved.  Welcome to the mines of Moriah!

We entered the chapel and knelt.  The chapel was bare.  There are no pews yet.  A small table served as the altar table.  Behind it is a chair.  On the side is the tabernacle.  It was veiled.

We entered the sacristy door beside the altar.  On the left are three small rooms for private masses that can accommodate only one priest and one server.  Each room has an altar pushed to the wall.  At the back is a small cabinet as big as two shoe boxes.  The cabinet contains some small candles and others.  Pasted on the cabinet door are the Latin prayers for each vestment.  Beside the small cabinet is a large cabinet.  It contains chasubles in different colors.  But they are old and dusty.  Frank took some pictures.

“It is sad that this place is dilapidated,” said Frank.

I accompanied Franck to the last room.  On this room was stacked the kneelers.  Each kneeler can accommodate only one priest.  The kneelers are stacked neatly now, unlike before when my friend and I saw them.  A week before she entered the convent, we cleaned these kneelers.  We removed the dusts with a Good Morning towel soaked in soap.  We cleaned each kneeler thrice.  It was her first time to handwash towelettes, so I laughed when saw her did it.  “What are you doing?” I asked her.  And I gave her a lecture in Laundry Washing 101.  I pity her sweet little hands.

III.  A Frank Conversation

Frank and I left the sacristy and went back to the chapel.  He took a picture of the main altar.  Seen through the tall windows on the left are the Observatory’s sprawling green fields.  There is the white solar building that jutted out like a rock of marble.  I pointed to the Grade School buildings beyond it, covered from view by a row of mango trees.  I pointed to my brick building towards the east, beside the big black sphere.  A thin mist shines in the morning sun.

Frank told me that in their parish in Vancouver, they have a regular Traditional Latin Mass every Sunday.  For seven years, they shared the church with a parish.  They petitioned the bishop to have their own personal parish.  Nothing happened until 2007, when a sympathetic auxilliary bishop came and Summorum Pontificum came out.  The Bishop found a church for them.  It was the parish church of a German community.  But the community dwindled.  They cannot anymore support the maintenance of their parish church.  So their parish was fused with the other parish, and the German church was given to the TLM community.

Today, this community has two FSSP priests: during Sundays, one priest says the mass while other hears confessions.  On special feast days, two FSSP seminarians goes to the parish and a high mass is celebrated.  Frank hopes that we can have something similar at the Ateneo de Manila University.  I agreed.

I told Frank that the new Church of the Gesu here at the Ateneo could not have masses every Sunday; it has only two Sunday masses per month.  The reason for this is that there are about three churches along Katipunan Avenue: Monasterio de Sta. Clara, Our Lady of Pentecost Church, and Our Lady della Strada Church.  If the Jesuits offer two more Sunday masses at the Church of the Gesu, these other churches would lose financially.  On the other hand, if we offer a TLM every Sunday, I think nobody will protest.  We are such a tiny group.

“Does the Director of the Manila Observatory approve the use of the chapel for the TLM?” asked Frank.

I told Frank that Mrs. Antonia Loyzaga is supportive the TLM initiative.  She has heard Latin masses in her youth.  She wants the chapel renovated to make it a real chapel with pews.  That is why she asked me lead the design for the chapel.  I submitted to her a simple design that I posted in the Ateneo Latin Mass Society Yahoo group (It is also available in my Padre Faura’s notebook blog in pdf).  My next problem is to make the costing.  Her problem is to find the funds for the renovation.  She said that the chapel, because it is a Jesuit chapel like other chapels in Ateneo de Manila University, should have its own budget from the Jesuit community.

“But the Jesuits are having financial problems,” said Frank.  “They have this property in Sta. Ana which they are thinking of selling.  But they may find it difficult to do so, because the property is being considered as a historical landmark” (see Inquirer article here).

I told Frank that I envision that the TLM mass collection will go to the purchase of vestments for priests, altar servers, and vessels.  I told him about the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate.  They make these vestments.  I saw some of their chasubles–they are exquisite.  The cost is about PhP 5,000 per set, because the chasubles must match in design with the coverings for the vessels, for example.  I am not sure if one set means one liturgical color, and there are are about five colors–green, white, red, black, violet.

Frank said that if it is only P 5,000 per set, that is only about a $ 100, which is not big for those in Vancouver.  There are also Filipinos there who may like to help, even if they cannot be here at the Ateneo.  Frank ask me to canvass this soon and inform him of the amount.

We thanked each other and left the chapel.

When we closed the chapel door, we read a sign: Chapel of St. Joseph.

“Joseph is my middle name,” said Frank.

This explains the riddle: fjch1 means Frank Joseph Chow… I don’t know what h1 means.  I did not anymore ask him.

Monk’s Hobbit Notes: Frank sent me the pictures of the Manila Observatory chapel.  You can find them here.

Should greeting passengers “Merry Christmas” in airports be banned?

Few days ago I found a disturbing article from Inquirer:

MANILA, Philippines — Lest they be mistaken for soliciting for tips, gifts or bribes, employees of the Manila International Airport Authority have been instructed not to greet airline passengers “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year” during the holiday season. (Inquirer 12/16/2009)

I think it is possible to have a win-win solution: it is possible to greet passengers “Merry Christmas” or “Happy New Year” and at the same time prevent airport personnel from soliciting tips.  One way is make a policy that those who greet passengers must be the one who shall give something to the passengers for free: a card or something with NAIA and PAL logo, a picture of the Nativity, and a “Merry Christmas!” written on it.  The reason why Filipino passengers return home is because it is Christmas. So let us greet them a Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

Blueboard: Traditional Latin Mass at the Ateneo: an Invitation to Form a Stable Group

Dominus Vobiscum!

If you say “Et cum spiritu tuo,” then you know the Traditional Latin Mass.

The Traditional Latin Mass was codified during the Council of Trent  (1545-1563) and became the mass of the Latin Rite Catholics all over  the world for five centuries. Even the Church Fathers during the  Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) celebrated the Traditional Latin  Mass.  In 1969 Pope Paul VI replaced the Traditional Latin Mass with  the New Mass, which is the same mass that we know today at the Ateneo  de Manila University.  But because of the continued request of many  bishops, priests, and faithful around the world, Pope Benedict XVI, through his encyclical Summorum Pontificum of 2007,  liberalized the  use of the Traditional Latin Mass.  He calls it the extraordinary form  of the Roman Rite and Pope Paul VI’s New Mass as the ordinary form.   Pope Benedict XVI decreed that a Traditional Latin Mass may be celebrated in any parish if there is a stable group of faithful who  requests it and if there is a priest who is willing to say it.

In Ateneo de Manila University, there is one priest who knows how to  celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass.  His name is Fr. Timoteo  Ofrasio, S.J., a professor of Liturgy at the Loyola House of Studies.   In his private chapel he celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass  everyday.  He is willing to celebrate it regularly in public if there  is a stable group who requests it.  If you wish to be part of this  stable group, please email Dr. Quirino M. Sugon Jr. at  qsugon@ateneo.edu or qsugon@observatory.ph.  In your email please  state if you know how to serve at mass or sing in Gregorian chant.

As Ateneo de Manila University celebrates its 150th founding  anniversary, it is worthwhile to look back and recover Ateneo’s lost  Latin heritage.  Let us restore the ancient mass that molded many  generations of Ateneans from Jose Rizal to Ninoy Aquino, the ancient  mass that strengthened many Jesuit missionaries in the Philippines and  other countries, the ancient mass that St. Ignatius himself lived.   Let us restore the Traditional Latin Mass.

Deo gratias.

Monk’s Hobbit Notes: I sent this email to the Ateneo de Manila University’s Blueboard last Tuesday afternoon, 15 December 2009.  The Blueboard is the mailing list for Ateneo’s administrators, faculty, and staff.  So far seven (8) has shown interest.  I invited them to the Ateneo Latin Mass Society Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ateneolatinmass/.  I shall post their email responses in the comment section.  I shall remove their surnames but retain their affiliations.  Since there are five original (5) students in the group, then the stable group is now 14 (including me).

Update 12/18/2009: The invitation to the TLM at the Ateneo was featured in the Ateneo de Manila website: Traditional Latin Mass still celebrated at Ateneo.

Ateneo de Manila University’s Department of History: Lecture Series on “The Jesuits in the Philippines”

The Department of History is sponsoring “The Jesuits in the Philippines,” a series of lectures in celebration of the sesquicentennial of the founding of the Ateneo de Manila University
and the return of the Jesuits to the Philippines.

The lectures will run from December 2009 to March 2010. For the month of December, the lectures are as follows:

“The Mindanao Missions”
by Fr. Jose S. Arcilla, S.J.
Professor, Department of History
Archivist, Archives of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus
Thursday, 3 December 2009
4:30-6:00 p.m.
Faura Hall AVR

“The Jesuits and the Philippine Revolution”
by Fr. Antonio Francisco B. De Castro, S.J.
Associate Professor, Loyola School of Theology
Lecturer, Department of History
Thursday, 10 December 2009
4:30-6:00 p.m.
Faura Hall AVR

“Jose Rizal and the Jesuits”
by Dr. Ambeth R. Ocampo
Associate Professor, Department of History
Chair, National Historical Institute (NHI)
Thursday, 17 December 2009
4:30-6:00 p.m.
Leong Hall Auditorium

The lectures are open to the public.
RSVP: 426-6001 local 5240/5241 (Mhel or Tin)

Source: Ateneo de Manila University

Going to an ordinary English mass with an extraordinary Latin-English missal

Since my friend bequeathed to me her Baronius 1962 missal last October, I always bring it with me whenever I go to mass–even to to an ordinary form of the Roman Rite.  I would usually go to the church 15 minutes before the start of the mass.  Then I will read the Devotions Before Communion such as those of St. Ambrose and St. Thomas Aquinas.  After this, I would read the Psalms in Preparation for the Holy Mass: Psalms 83, 84, 85, 115, and 129.

During the entrance song, I read the Asperges–I now understand it in Latin.   I follow the ordinary of the mass in English.  During Sundays, the Confiteor is similar.  I skip the Introit.  The Kyrie is the same and the Gloria.  I skip the Collects and Epistle and listen to the Readings.  I read the Gradual and listen to the Gospel.  I read the Credo–it is possible to recite the Apostle’s Creed and silently read the Nicene Creed at the same time.  If there is enough time, I read the Incensing of the Offerings, Psalm 62 for the Washing of the Hands, and the Prayer to the Most Holy Trinity.  The Orate Fratres is similar to that of the New Mass.  I listen to the priest saying the Secret.  For the Preface, I go to the Proper Prefaces and read the pertinent ones–usually those for the Common, Holy Trinity, and the Blessed Virgin.  I read the Sanctus in Latin–it is straightforward.

Now, the order of the mass gets mixed up.  I skip the Prayers before the Consecration and go immediately to the Prayers at the Consecration.  Then I go to the Prayers Before Consecration and jump again to the Prayers after Consecration.  I read the Pater Noster–I already know how to pray the rosary in Latin.  I read the Libera Nos.  Then I jump to to the Prayers for Peace before going back to Agnus Dei.  I read the Prayers at Communion.

I go back to the Prayers before Communion: the prayers of St. Ambrose and St. Augustine.  Then I line up for the Communion.  I do not anymore respond “Amen” when the priest says “Body of Christ” because it becomes awkward: are we not sure that the consecrated host is indeed the Body of Christ?  (Now, I changed my mind: to be faithful to the New Missal, I shall say “Amen” because it is the prescribed response.)  In the extraordinary rite, you do not answer the priest when he says, “The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy soul unto life everlasting.  Amen.”

After Communion, I go back to my kneeler and pray the Prayers after Communion–those of Sts. Aquinas, Bonaventure, and Augustine.  This would just be sufficient before the priest reads the Post-Communion verse, gives the Dismal, and the Blessing.  During the exit hymn, I read the Last Gospel, Salve Regina, and Prayer for the Queen–the words are Elizabeth but in my mind are the King and Queen of Spain.  I still haven’t thought of our President and our government officials here–maybe I should.  If most of the parishioners are out of the Church, I go to the Adoration Chapel and read the Canticle of Daniel–I understand it now in Latin.  Then I go to Psalm 150, the Prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to St. Joseph.  The succeeding prayers I read are the Litany of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, Anima Christi, “I beseech Thee”, “En ego, o bene”, and the Memore.  These prayers after the mass usually take 15 to 20 minutes.

I feel that my use of the Baronius 1962 missal has increased my devotion for the Holy Mass even if it is in it ordinary form and even if I read mostly the English translations.  There is a spirituality in the old mass that excites devotion to the Holy Eucharist.  And reading a missal helps me focus on the mass.  I am still a visual person.  I prefer to read scripts even of movies and plays to understand them better.  I like spoilers because they allow me to see whether the storyline builds up to the climax or not.  And reading a missal helps me fully understand what the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass truly is–the Sacrifice of Christ in Calvary.

Update 12/14/2009: I shall experiment using the New Missal for a month and reserve the Old Missal for the devotions before and after communion.