SSPX, Offertory Prayers, & Ecumenism

With the impending "reuniting" of the SSPX with Rome (how does one reunite with something to which he already belongs?), Anonymous 5 has tasked our readers with explaining away apparent discrepancies in post-Conciliar teaching with prior Magesterial statements.

I hope his post shows that Catholic Traditionalism is not just about the return to the Tridentine Mass... it is about serious theological issues that culminate in the way we celebrate the Sacraments: lex credendi, lex orandi.

As part of the "reunification" of the SSPX and Rome, the Vatican may finally explain to us what we need to believe on the important issues of ecumenism, religious liberty, the Church, and collegiality. For my part, I believe what the Church has always taught. Since the Vatican II documents did not teach any new doctrine, I simply disregard their pastoral statements on these theological issues. Because I believe what the Church has always taught, it is necessary to express that faith in the very same way the Church has always expressed it: the Traditional Mass.

This is not about our personal preference of which "form" of the Mass we prefer -- this is about objectively manifesting our Catholic Faith in the propitiatory Sacrifice offered on the Catholic altar by Catholic priests on behalf of the Catholic Church. If Sacrosanctum Concilium and the Liturgical Movement were about making the aim of the Mass clearer to the people (which I submit they were not), then isn't the form of Mass which best sets forth the reality of the propitiatory Sacrifice the objectively superior Mass?

With that in mind, let's consider the most problematic change in the Novus Ordo: the Offertory. Compare these and decide for yourself which best shows forth the coming Sacrifice to be made manifest with the Words of Consecration:

Novus Ordo Offertory:

Blessed are you Lord God of all creation through your goodness we have this bread to offer which earth has given and human hands have made it will become for us the bread of life.

Blessed are you Lord God of all creation through your goodness we have this wine to offer fruit of the vine and work of human hands it will become our spiritual drink.

(What exactly is a spiritual drink, anyway? Does that sound like the Precious Blood offered to the Father on our behalf by Christ upon the Cross? Anyway...)

Traditional Mass Offertory:

Accept, O holy Father, almighty and eternal God, this unspotted host, which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer unto Thee, my living and true God, for my innumerable sins, offenses, and negligences, and for all here present: as also for all faithful Christians, both living and dead, that it may avail both me and them for salvation unto life everlasting. Amen.

O God, who, in creating human nature, didst wonderfully dignify it, and still more wonderfully restore it, grant that, by the Mystery of this water and wine, we may be made partakers of His divine nature, who vouchsafed to be made partaker of our human nature, even Jesus Christ our Lord, Thy Son, who with Thee, liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God: world without end. Amen.

We offer unto Thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, beseeching Thy clemency, that it may ascend before Thy divine Majesty, as a sweet savor, for our salvation, and for that of the whole world. Amen.

Accept us, O Lord, in the spirit of humility and contrition of heart, and grant that the sacrifice which we offer this day in Thy sight may be pleasing to Thee, O Lord God.

Jewish Home Ritual Prayer:

Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

(Suspicious, right? Exactly.)

Anyway... while we are discussing logical conundrums in light of the Rome-SSPX thing, I thought I'd add one to the mix:

Prayer with Protestants and Other Non-Catholics?

Catechism of the Catholic Church para. 821:

Certain things are required in order to respond adequately to this call: prayer in common, because "change of heart and holiness of life, along with public and private prayer for the unity of Christians, should be regarded as the soul of the whole ecumenical movement, and merits the name 'spiritual ecumenism[.]"'

Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos:

Venerable Brethren, it is clear why this Apostolic See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics: for the union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it, for in the past they have unhappily left it.