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The End of One Mystery...

[2009-07-20]
[Engleză]
And the beginning of another

By Robert Moynihan, reporting from Rome

================================

'Lacrimae rerum.' ('The tears of things.') —Virgil, The Aeneid (Book 1, line 462)

The Aeneid is an epic poem written in Latin by Virgil, one of Rome's most distinguished poets, in the first century BC. In these lines, the Trojan prince Aeneas, son of Anchises, weeping, gazes at one of the murals found in a Carthaginian temple, which depicts battles of the Trojan War and the deaths of his friends and countrymen, and says 'sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt.' Translated this means, 'These are tears for events and mortal things (sufferings) touch the soul.' As he stands there, Aeneas is overcome by the futility of warfare and waste of human life. The burden man has to bear, ever-present frailty and suffering, defines the essence of human experience. A translation by the classicist Robert Fagles renders the quote this way: 'The world is a world of tears, and the burdens of mortality touch the heart.'

=============================

Jeremiah's Lament

Before telling more about my conversation with the monsignor indicated to me by Cardinal Gagnon as he lay dying, I think it is right that I should continue, for a moment, with my Roman journal.

This evening, an unusually cool one for this time of year, and so very pleasant, I went to Vespers in St. Peter's Basilica, followed by Sunday evening Mass.

Both the Vespers and Mass were at the Altar of the Chair of St. Peter, which is in that part of the basilica directly behind the main altar and beneath the great golden window depicting the descent of the Holy Spirit, visible at the very back of this wide-angle image. (photo)

During Mass, there was a choir of 46 children from Moscow, called the Poliot Choir, who sang beautifully in Latin and in Russian. (The connections and contacts between Rome and Russia continue to intensify.)

During the Mass, the first reading was from Jeremiah (23:1-6):

'Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the LORD...
You have scattered my sheep and driven them away.
You have not cared for them,
but I will take care to punish your evil deeds.
I myself will gather the remnant of my flock
from all the lands to which I have driven them
and bring them back to their meadow...
and none shall be missing, says the LORD.'

And the Gospel reading included this passage, from Mark (6:30-34):

'When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.'

Cardinal Angelo Comastri (photo), the Italian prelate in charge of St. Peter's Basilica (I have interviewed him about ways to restore a greater sense of prayer throughout the basilica, while keeping it open for visitors) then delivered a powerful homily.

'I have been thinking about the prophet Jeremiah quite a bit in the past few days,' Comastri said. 'He was born in 650 BC, about a century after Isaiah. He was by nature a timid man, reserved. But he lived in a turbulent time, the time of the destruction of the Jewish temple, the glory of Israel, in 586 BC. He suffered very much. He lived to see his beloved city destroyed and his people taken into captivity.

'For 25 years before this happened, he cried out to the Jews to put down their idols and fulfill their destiny as his Chosen People — to do justice, and become the living Temple of God.

'Il vero tempio siete voi!' Comastri cried out, citing Jeremiah. 'You are the true Temple! And in your idolatries, in your worship of things which are nothingnesses, the true Temple of God, your hearts, has already been destroyed! And it is no wonder that the Temple of stone then falls as well...'

=============================

Astronomers by the Lake

Earlier this week, on Thursday, I had the opportunity to go out to Castel Gandolfo and visit some Jesuit friends at the Specola Vaticana — the Vatican Observatory — refounded in 1891 by Pope Leo XIII in an effort to show that the faith and true science were not incompatible.

For nearly a century, the Specola has been housed inside the Pope's summer residence, Castel Gandolfo itself.

In fact, the Jesuit community of astronomers there had free access to the castle roof — where the telescope is — and the Pope did not!

But starting just two weeks ago, all this has changed: the Jesuit community has been moved to the other end of the Vatican Gardens.

So I went out on what was more or less a 'farewell' visit to the castle, as I don't know when I will have a chance to visit there again. (Photo, a view of Lake Albano from the castle roof.)

The Jesuits astronomers have a long history at the Vatican.

Ancient records tell us that Pope Gregory XIII (1572-1585) commissioned his architect, Mascherino, to build a 73-meter high tower in the Vatican along the via delle Fondamenta. This tower, known as the Torre dei Venti (Tower of the Winds) is still standing.

Inside the tower, also called the Gregorian Tower or the Gregorian Observatory, there is a very interesting room which contains a meridian line constructed by the leading mathematician of the age, the Dominican Father Ignazio Danti.

A hole is located in the south wall at a height of about 5 meters and the artist placed it right in the mouth of a genie blowing wind (photo, showing the beam of light).

A ray of sunlight passing through this hole falls on the floor across which there is a long marble strip, placed north-south, whose center opens up into a circle.

The meridian line is inserted along this marble strip. One of the markings corresponds to the spot where the sun's rays strike on the spring and fall equinoxes.

By observing this meridian, Gregory XIII is said to have come to the personal realization of the absolute need for the reform of the calendar which had already been undertaken 'because on March 21 the bright solar image fell on the meridian line at a distance of 60 centimeters from the point cut into the floor to indicate the true equinox.'

===========================

The Briefcase Left Behind (continued)

I began my conversation with the monsignor indicated to me by Cardinal Gagnon asw he lay dying with the simple fact of Gagnon's passing in August of 2007.

We spoke in Italian. The conversation took place in the fall of 2007.

'I was sorry to hear of Cardinal Gagnon's passing,' I said.

'Yes, so was I,' the monsignor said. 'He was a great servant of the Church. He suffered a great deal.'

'I knew him,' I said. 'He was always helpful to me, especially when I was beginning.'

'He was a kind man.'

And then we began our usual conversation, on the state of the Church, the latest news in the Vatican, and so forth. Our conversation turned naturally to the publication on July 7, 2007, of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, which promoted wider use of the old rite of the Mass.

'I'm confused,' I said.

'Why?' he said.

'The whole thing,' I said. 'What happened at the Second Vatican Council, the Constitution on the Liturgy, the Commission established to revise the Mass, Monsignor Bugnini... And now, 40 years later, we seem to be still in a state of confusion. It seems like all the things we held sacred — all the things we loved — have been trampled upon.'

'You are too gloomy,' he said, waving his hand dismissively. 'Yes, things have been trampled upon, but the essential remains. Don't lose heart.'

'Does the essential remain?' I asked. 'Look around. We have some who don't care about any traditions at all, they look at the 'old Church' as narrow and guilt-ridden, and they will do anything not to go back. And we have many traditionalists who seem to focus solely on externals — it sometimes seems an idolatry of the ritual...'

'I don't see it that black-and-white,' the monsignor said. 'You are leaving out all the individuals, all their acts of sacrifice, their good humor, their prayer. You have fallen into a trap. In the fight over truth, don't forget grace. Remember, there is God, the Holy Spirit, Mary...'

'But why do so many seem not to care?'

'Some are thoughtless. Some are persuaded the Church should be changed. Some just flow with the tide. Some are motivated by money. And then there are those who serve other masters. That was the case with Bugnini...'

I was startled. Not because of what he said, because it is an old allegation, but because of the way he said it, as if it was something settled, beyond discussion.

'Of course, I have heard that,' I said, 'but why do you say it so bluntly, as if it were certain? I thought it was just an allegation?'

'It is certain,' he said. 'At least, as certain as anything can be in this world. He went to a meeting in the Secretariat of State, with his briefcase. It was in 1975. Later that evening, when everyone had gone home, a monsignor found the briefcase Bugnini had left behind. The monsignor decided to open it to see who the owner was. And when he opened it, he found letters inside addressed to Bugnini, as to a brother, from the Grand Master of Italian Freemasonry...'

'But could those letters have been forgeries?' I asked. 'Could someone have opened the briefcase, seen it was Bugnini's, and then slipped these false documents inside, to frame him?'

'Well, theoretically, I suppose, that is possible. [Note to readers: Bugnini himself always said the allegations were false, that he was never a freemason, and that the charges were made against him by disgruntled conservatives who opposed the work he had done on the liturgy.] But Paul VI, at least, didn't think so. When the evidence was brought to him, he came to the conclusion that Bugnini needed to be removed immediately from his post. Bugnini was made the papal nuncio in Iran. After more than 25 years as the head of the liturgical reform, he was abruptly fired and sent to a country where there are hardly any Catholics at all. It was a type of banishment.

'That is very sad,' I said.

'No,' he said, 'it is very human... And today, 35 years later, it is in the past. It is something we can do nothing about.'

'But if this is really true,' I said, 'then Paul VI may have approved of the new Mass under 'false pretences,' as it were. Wouldn't that raise questions about the entire liturgical reform? And why, then, did Paul VI not go back to the drawing board, if he believed what you say was true?'

(For more on the letters in the briefcase, see: http://www.traditioninaction.org/ProgressivistDoc/A_075_BugniniMason.htm)

==============================

The Monsignor Sums Up

'Look,' the monsignor said, 'no matter how many defeats the Church suffers, no matter how many betrayals, there is always hope...'

'But the losses are so great,' I said, 'it is as if the link between our time and the past has been severed...'

'No!' He looked fiercely at me. 'You yourself are evidence that it has not been severed. And so am I. And I tell you, that even were you to fall, and betray the faith, and even were I to fall, and even if all around us were to fall, still, the Church will not be defeated. She will prevail. Non praevalebunt!'

And I looked at him and marveled at his faith.

And I still had not asked him about the Gagnon dossier...

Sursa: www.InsideTheVatican.com

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