Wednesday 26 May 2010

Of liturgical changes... the Pentecost Octave

The following is a story recounted by Fr Z and attributed to the MC mentioned in the retelling of this account of Paul VI on the Monday morning after Pentecost Sunday, 1970...
...His Holiness Pope Paul VI rose bright and early and went to the chapel for Holy Mass. Instead of the red he expected, there were green vestments laid out for him.



He queried the MC assigned that day, "What on earth are these for? This is the Octave of Pentecost! Where are the red vestments?"


"Santità," quoth the MC, "this is now Tempus ‘per annum’. It is green, now. The Octave of Pentecost is abolished."


"Green? That cannot be!", said the Pope, "Who did that?"


"Holiness, you did."And Paul VI wept....
Those of you who watch the Daily Mass Online, may have noticed the Commemoration of the Pentecost Octave including the change of the Last Gospel from the Prologue of St John to the Gospel of today's Feria in the Octave of Pentecost; this despite our celebrating the Feast of St Philip Neri, an important Patron of my Congregation.  Could not the Holy Father have made such an accomodation after realising his mistake...?

1 comment:

Andrew said...

I have to agree. There surely has to be a way to reintegrate the important elements now lost back into the Universal Kalendar. Hopefully therefore giving common ground between the two forms of the Mass.