Saint Andrew's Abbey-Church, Bruges (Belgium)

Photograph: Dirk Vde 2007
Please note: The above copyrighted image may not be reproduced in any circumstances.

The magnificent Benedictine Abbey-Church of Saint Andrew in Bruges, Belgium is completely intact and truly glorious.

The altar rests beneath a magnificent civory or ciborium, the vault of which is covered with golden mosaic tiles. The apse walls are treated with inlaid marblework and murals painted in the Beuronese school of sacred art. Equally magnificent is the Cosmatesque floor of the sanctuary.

The altar of Saint Joseph in the Abbey-Church.
Here is seen a further example of the Beuronese school of sacred art.
The altar itself, together with its bronze Crucifix and candlesticks, is a work of art,
beautifully detailed and admirably proportionate.

The charming photograph adjacent was taken in the Abbey Church of Saint Andrew in Bruges,
Belgium around 1958.  A Benedictine monk is pictured at the beginning of a Low Mass, attended by two servers.

Re-posted from our other Blog Where Heaven and Earth Meet.

Click on the images for an enlarged view. 

The Kiss of Peace

At a previous Synod of Bishops, Pope Benedict and other bishops posed a question about the Kiss of Peace or Pax in the celebration of the Ordinary Form of Mass according to the Roman Rite. Subsequently, the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments issued a decision of admirable Roman liturgical conservatism, rejecting a proposal that the Pax be observed at the Offertory, rather than before the reception of Holy Communion (as it has been since the time of Pope Saint Gregory the Great).

In a previous post about the revision of the Rites, we pondered if celebrants might consider that any ritual actions of the Extraordinary Form could be incorporated into their celebration of the New Mass in such a way as would not disturb the Faithful. One of these, it might be suggested, is the Pax.

The ritual actions for the Pax in the Extraordinary and Ordinary forms of the Roman Rite are quite different. The prayers - which are the same in both Old and New - are rearranged in the Ordinary form. One thing remains unchanged, however, and it is most significant. Domine Jesu Christi, qui dixisti apostolis tuis ... This prayer, which is the preface to the Pax, is not addressed to God the Father (as all the other prayers of the Mass are) (1)   but addressed directly to God the Son, who is present upon the altar before the very eyes of the celebrant.

All the more inappropriate, therefore, for the celebrant to say or sing this prayer looking around at the Congregation (we need not elaborate on various manifestations of the ars celebrandi of some priests). (2) The celebrant ought to have his eyes cast down upon the altar, looking at Him whom he is addressing. This injunction, however, will not be found in the rubrics of the Pauline Missal.

The Kissing of the Altar :
Karsh's photograph from the famous book by
Bishop Fulton Sheen : This is the Mass.

There is a regrettable ritual excision from the Pax as observed in the Pauline Missal. In Solemn Masses, according to the Extraordinary form, the celebrant recites quietly the prayer Domine Jesu Christi, qui dixisti apostolis tuis and then he kisses the corporal upon which rest the Sacred Host and the Chalice. The deacon (standing at his right), kisses the altar, but not the corporal. The celebrant then gives the Pax to the deacon. In some Mediaeval Western liturgies, the celebrant kissed not the corporal, but the Sacred Host itself, or the foot of the Chalice. These ritual gestures are of great significance and underline that the Pax is not a greeting per se, but a ritual transmission of the Peace which comes directly from our Saviour.

Would it be so objectionable if celebrants of Mass in the Ordinary Form were once again to kiss the corporal before giving the Faithful the Greeting of Peace? Would that ritual action not emphasise their words : The Peace of the Lord be with you always ? Would this be so objectionable? For some, probably. Others might not even notice. Still others might welcome the enrichment of an other-worldly ritual dimension in the Ordinary Form of the Mass. Prudence in all things.

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(1) With the exception of the Kyrie eleison, which is a litany.
(2) We had the misfortune to observe during the ANZAC Dawn Service at the Gallipoli Beach in Turkey on 25th April 2015, the Anglican minister "praying" the Lord's Prayer whilst looking from side to side to those gathered (whom he would have been unable to see because of the glare of lights). This is is the antithesis of Liturgical Prayer.

Ordinands for 2018

Commissions for the first half of 2018 are now being accepted.
  
Will you be ordained in 2018?

Please do not delay in making an enquiry.  

Places in our schedule are limited. NOW is the time to be in contact with the Studio.  

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Vestments for Pentecost : 3

As the Church celebrates the Great Feast of Pentecost, we are pleased to present posts about three new red vestments that have been completed for this Feast.

This third post is a Low Mass set, shewn in the adjacent image, prepared for a young priest in the Archdiocese of New York USA.

This vestment, in the Studio's Borromeon style, was made from a beautiful European silk damask being a replica of a Venetian design of the 16th century. It is lined in a bronze taffeta. The vestments are ornamented in the Roman manner with a TAU at the front and column at the back in colours of burgundy and gold.

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

Enquiries: stbede62@gmail.com

Vestments for Pentecost : 2

As the Church celebrates the Great Feast of Pentecost, we are pleased to present posts about three new red vestments that have been completed for this Feast.

This second post is a Low Mass set, shewn in the adjacent image, prepared for a young priest in the Diocese of Steubenville (Ohio) USA.

This vestment, in the Studio's Saint Austin design, was made from a beautiful English ecclesiastical brocade and lined in blue taffeta. The vestments are ornamented with an orphrey braid of the Studio's own design called Saint Chad (directly based on the work of AWN Pugin) in colours of red, blue and gold.

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

Enquiries: stbede62@gmail.com

Vestments for Pentecost : 1

As the Church celebrates the Great Day of Pentecost, we are pleased to present posts about three new red vestments that have been completed for this Feast.

Our first post is a chasuble set, shewn in the adjacent image, prepared for a parish community in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston (Texas USA), a returning customer.

This chasuble, in the Saint Bede Studio's Saint Giles design, was made from a beautiful silk damask of a distinctive shade of red and lined in a sand-grey taffeta. The vestments are ornamented with an orphrey braid of the Studio's own design (based on elements of the work of AWN Pugin) in colours of grey and burgundy upon red.

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

Enquiries: stbede62@gmail.com

Commission for Vestments in 2018

Commissions for the first half of 2018 are now being accepted.
  
Will you be ordained in 2018?

Please do not delay in making an enquiry.  

Places in our schedule are limited. Now is the time to be in contact with the Studio.  

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Saint Giles chasuble

The Saint Bede Studio recently completed this chasuble according to our Saint Giles design.  This simple and elegant chasuble, made from a cream coloured silk blend jacquard, is extremely lightweight and flows beautifully.

It is ornamented with a braid of the Studio's design, in colours of red, burgundy and gold.  This design is directly based upon a Belgian early-20th century chasuble which appears on page 92 of Dom Roulin's well-known study Vestments and Vesture (1931). The image from Dom Roulin's book is reproduced below.

Please click on the images for an enlarged view.

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Gothic Revival Vestments

We are pleased to present these similar sets of red vestments prepared by the Saint Bede Studio for two priests from the Diocese of Arlington (Virginia) in the United States.

These sets of vestments are in the Studio's Saint Austin Gothic Revival style. They are made from an English ecclesiastical brocade in a deeper shade of red. Lined in a gold shade of taffeta, the vestments are ornamented with braids in red and gold, of the Studio's own design.

Please click on the images for an enlarged view.

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Papal Mass in Saint Peter's 1965

Adjacent is a rather rare photograph, taken in Saint Peter's during a Session of the Second Vatican Council.

Standing at the centre of the altar is Pope Paul VI and with him, concelebrating bishops. At the Opening of the Third and Fourth Sessions of the Council, which took place on 14th September, 1964 and 14th September, 1965 respectively, Pope Paul concelebrated Mass in the basilica with a select number of the Council Fathers.

This Mass, of course, is being celebrated according to those modifications of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite known colloquially as The Interim Missal. The Rite of concelebration, however, is quite similar to that which is found in the new Missal of 1969.

Nevertheless, the concelebrated Masses celebrated in Saint Peter's before the introduction of the new Missal differed very significantly from those after that date, as is illustrated by this photograph. Although the Basilica on this occasion was filled with bishops, archbishops and cardinals from all around the world, only a small number concelebrated with the Pope.

These concelebrants were standing at the altar during the Canon and Communion Rite. To facilitate this, a temporary enlargement of the altar of the Confession was made, together with platforms on which the concelebrants would stand.

It was of little importance that the concelebrants obscured the congregation's view of the principal celebrant, the Pope. The most important considerations, therefore, were that the concelebrants stood at the altar in close proximity to each other (and the principal celebrant) AND that they could clearly look upon the elements to be consecrated.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.