Cantate Domino

We Dominican Student brothers have one more week of classes and then finals are here. So we don’t exactly have a lot of time on our hands. Yet, many of us came together for a special event this evening. Br. Ambrose and Br. Tuan organized a good old fashioned book burning—the older version of the Roman Missal. But before you get your knickers in a twist regarding the possible revisiting of the iconoclastic movement of the 70s and 80s, know that there are several key differences.

First off, the Roman Missal is now in its 3rd edition and contains new translations that are substantially different than previous versions. All of the bishops in the English speaking world have agreed that this new version is to be used and the previous versions should not. This is different from the 1962 Missal which was never juridically abrogated as Pope Benedict XVI has officially stated. So in effect, we will never use the previous editions of the English Missal (under the Ordinary Form) whereas we can use this particular version of the Latin Missal (under the Extraordinary Form).

Second off, if we have books that are blessed (and presumably the Sacramentary and the Lectionary have been blessed), then we cannot simply throw them away. That would be desecration. The only suitable end for blessed items are burial and burning. We opted for the latter because we could actually make a gathering of it (and there’s less back-breaking work involved).

So, with a few vittles, tea, chocolate, and coffee we got down to business. Believe it or not, with a facility as large as St. Albert’s Priory (and with as many chapels that we have), there are a lot of Sacramentaries (the Lectionaries are still useful).* So as I type this the brethren are still out in the patio feeding the flames, so to speak. In a way it’s sad to see something we’ve used for so long, but at the same time it’s exciting to have the new texts.

* And yes, we are keeping several sets for our archives.