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Author Topic: Did St. Pius X Want "Active Participation?"  (Read 601 times)

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Offline SeanJohnson

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Did St. Pius X Want "Active Participation?"
« on: February 01, 2020, 12:39:28 PM »
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  • The SSPX.org website is featuring a good collection of articles on the Liturgical Movement, with each installment receiving a brief summary here: https://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/50-years-new-mass-ongoing-series-liturgical-movement-vatican-ii-54668

    I am particularly interested in the subject matter broached in Part 7, which introduces the reforms of Pope St. Pius X, and which is when, historically, things get a little confusing, particularly in understanding St. Pius X's intentions (Part 7: https://fsspx.news/en/news-events/news/50-years-new-mass-saint-pius-x-and-liturgical-movement-7-54488).

    Specifically, the matter of whether St. Pius X ever actually called for "active participation."

    From the article:

    "Intervention Become Necessary
    Faced with this observation, Saint Pius X considers “Our first duty, without further delay, to raise Our voice at once in reproof and condemnation of all that is seen to be out of harmony with the right rule… in the functions of public worship and in the performance of the ecclesiastical offices.”
    He then adds a capital sentence which will play a decisive role in the evolution of the Liturgical Movement: “Filled as We are with a most ardent desire to see the true Christian spirit flourish in every respect and be preserved by all the faithful, We deem it necessary to provide before anything else for the sanctity and dignity of the temple, in which the faithful assemble for no other object than that of acquiring this spirit from its foremost and indispensable font, which is the active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church.”
    A remark is essential here. The expression “active participation”—the partecipazione attiva in the original Italian—will be repeated and will become a leitmotif of the late liturgical movement.
    The expression is thus found eleven times in Vatican II’s constitution on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum concilium. It will serve to justify the most daring innovations and the post-conciliar liturgical upheaval. It is obvious that this new concept of the participation of the faithful is a profound distortion of the Holy Pope’s thoughts. Besides, the Latin text of St. Pius X’s motu proprio says in this place: “participatio divinorum mysteriorum” (“participation in the divine mysteries”), whereas Vatican II speaks of participatio actuosa (“active participation,” repeated in numbers 14, 19, 26, 27, 30, 41, 50, 79, 114, 121, 124)."

    There are some questions which arise here, for which I have been trying to get clarification for a couple years, without being able to reach any definitive conclusions supported by primary docuмents:

    Dr. Carol Byrne says that, contrary to custom, this motu proprio was originally composed in the vernacular (Italian), and that this original version DOES contain the Italian phrase "active participation," (but suspiciously so, and without certainty that it was inserted by St. Pius X), but when (much) later the official Latin version was published, this phrase is absent:

    "Some points of concern

    The motu proprio was first published in Italian on November 22, 1903, in the Acta Sanctae Sedis, the official organ of the Holy See, but the Latin version bearing the same date did not see the light of day until much later, after many intervening docuмents. Both texts can be accessed .pdf]here. (4)

    Pope Pius X's aim was to reform Gregorian chant, not active participation

    This wide separation of the texts is a departure from the protocol observed by the compilers of the Acta Sanctae Sedis, who normally published vernacular and Latin texts consecutively for the purposes of transparency and convenient reference. Furthermore, it was uncharacteristic of the Holy See’s policy to issue a legislative docuмent of such weight and solemnity concerning the entire Catholic world in the vernacular and only much later in the universal language of the Church.

    Another notable anomaly is the manner in which the Latin version is dated. Instead of the customary format found in the Acta Sanctae Sedis since 1865, it was written according to the method of calculation of the ancient Romans as X Kalendas Decembris. Thus the impression is given that the Latin text had been composed long after TLS, as if it were an afterthought and of relative unimportance. Only those who are familiar with the ancient dating system would realize that X Kalendas Decembris is, in fact, the equivalent of November 22, the same date as TLS. (5)

    This has prompted some to assume that the Italian version, simply because it appeared first, is the official papal text. (6) TLS may be “official” in the sense of having been published by officials of the Vatican bureaucracy, but the fact remains that the Latin is invariably the only authoritative and official version of papal docuмents, even if it happens that this text only becomes available later.

    Out of sight, out of mind

    Therefore, it is to be deplored that the Latin version was buried from immediate view and relegated to an inconvenient position. To add to the difficulties in locating the Latin text, the page number in the Acta Sanctae Sedis was printed as 587 instead of 387, thus misdirecting the researcher.

    Why such obfuscation surrounding the only version of the motu proprio (i.e. the Latin) that conveys in indisputable terms the mind of the Pope? The answer will become clear when we come to examine the important discrepancies between the two docuмents.

    Which version to follow – the Italian or Latin?

    As the use of Latin in drafting docuмents was considered by the Church as the ultimate safeguard of objectivity, it is vitally important for the faithful transmission of the truth in a seamless way. Later generations of Catholics can recognize in the Latin words the exact meaning intended by the Popes. Thus it averted the risk of misleading the faithful through imprecise formulae or the rapid changes in meaning typical of vernacular languages.

    As we shall see, misrepresentation is exactly what happened when TLS was placed into the hands of liturgical reformers. An examination of this docuмent will show that it contains a number of key words and phrases for which there is no translational equivalence in the Latin version.

    In other words, ideas had been inserted into TLS that pander to the aims and objectives of those who wanted to change the liturgy in ways not envisaged by Pope Pius X. Someone even managed to get the word attiva (“active”) written into the text of TLS to describe the participation of the laity, a term entirely missing in the Latin version."
    https://www.traditioninaction.org/HotTopics/f073_Dialogue_1.htm

    So, the ultimate question here is: Did St. Pius X ever actually insert the word "attiva" into the Italian (non-authoritative) original?  If not, who did it, and why?  Why the difference in procedure in the publication of the motu proprio?

    Was the hijacking of the liturgy already taking place during the pontificate of St. Pius X?

    It would seem that the liturgical movement (already modernist by 1920) preferred to follow the Italian (original, but unofficial, and possibly falsified) version, which included the phrase "active participation" and hence gave credibility to the invention of the dialogue Mass (already under St. Pius X's immediate successor, Benedict XV), and from that innovation, the movement never returned to Catholic principles (later overthrowing the traditional Holy Week rites by reforms between 1951-1955, tampering wiwth the canon of the Mass, and eventually bringing these false principles to their logical fruition in the Novus Ordo Missae).
    Rom 5: 20 - "But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more."


    Offline SeanJohnson

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    Re: Did St. Pius X Want "Active Participation?"
    « Reply #1 on: February 01, 2020, 12:55:49 PM »
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  • The SSPX.org website is featuring a good collection of articles on the Liturgical Movement, with each installment receiving a brief summary here: https://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/50-years-new-mass-ongoing-series-liturgical-movement-vatican-ii-54668

    I am particularly interested in the subject matter broached in Part 7, which introduces the reforms of Pope St. Pius X, and which is when, historically, things get a little confusing, particularly in understanding St. Pius X's intentions (Part 7: https://fsspx.news/en/news-events/news/50-years-new-mass-saint-pius-x-and-liturgical-movement-7-54488).

    Specifically, the matter of whether St. Pius X ever actually called for "active participation."

    From the article:

    "Intervention Become Necessary
    Faced with this observation, Saint Pius X considers “Our first duty, without further delay, to raise Our voice at once in reproof and condemnation of all that is seen to be out of harmony with the right rule… in the functions of public worship and in the performance of the ecclesiastical offices.”
    He then adds a capital sentence which will play a decisive role in the evolution of the Liturgical Movement: “Filled as We are with a most ardent desire to see the true Christian spirit flourish in every respect and be preserved by all the faithful, We deem it necessary to provide before anything else for the sanctity and dignity of the temple, in which the faithful assemble for no other object than that of acquiring this spirit from its foremost and indispensable font, which is the active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church.”
    A remark is essential here. The expression “active participation”—the partecipazione attiva in the original Italian—will be repeated and will become a leitmotif of the late liturgical movement.
    The expression is thus found eleven times in Vatican II’s constitution on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum concilium. It will serve to justify the most daring innovations and the post-conciliar liturgical upheaval. It is obvious that this new concept of the participation of the faithful is a profound distortion of the Holy Pope’s thoughts. Besides, the Latin text of St. Pius X’s motu proprio says in this place: “participatio divinorum mysteriorum” (“participation in the divine mysteries”), whereas Vatican II speaks of participatio actuosa (“active participation,” repeated in numbers 14, 19, 26, 27, 30, 41, 50, 79, 114, 121, 124)."

    There are some questions which arise here, for which I have been trying to get clarification for a couple years, without being able to reach any definitive conclusions supported by primary docuмents:

    Dr. Carol Byrne says that, contrary to custom, this motu proprio was originally composed in the vernacular (Italian), and that this original version DOES contain the Italian phrase "active participation," (but suspiciously so, and without certainty that it was inserted by St. Pius X), but when (much) later the official Latin version was published, this phrase is absent:

    "Some points of concern

    The motu proprio was first published in Italian on November 22, 1903, in the Acta Sanctae Sedis, the official organ of the Holy See, but the Latin version bearing the same date did not see the light of day until much later, after many intervening docuмents. Both texts can be accessed .pdf]here. (4)

    Pope Pius X's aim was to reform Gregorian chant, not active participation

    This wide separation of the texts is a departure from the protocol observed by the compilers of the Acta Sanctae Sedis, who normally published vernacular and Latin texts consecutively for the purposes of transparency and convenient reference. Furthermore, it was uncharacteristic of the Holy See’s policy to issue a legislative docuмent of such weight and solemnity concerning the entire Catholic world in the vernacular and only much later in the universal language of the Church.

    Another notable anomaly is the manner in which the Latin version is dated. Instead of the customary format found in the Acta Sanctae Sedis since 1865, it was written according to the method of calculation of the ancient Romans as X Kalendas Decembris. Thus the impression is given that the Latin text had been composed long after TLS, as if it were an afterthought and of relative unimportance. Only those who are familiar with the ancient dating system would realize that X Kalendas Decembris is, in fact, the equivalent of November 22, the same date as TLS. (5)

    This has prompted some to assume that the Italian version, simply because it appeared first, is the official papal text. (6) TLS may be “official” in the sense of having been published by officials of the Vatican bureaucracy, but the fact remains that the Latin is invariably the only authoritative and official version of papal docuмents, even if it happens that this text only becomes available later.

    Out of sight, out of mind

    Therefore, it is to be deplored that the Latin version was buried from immediate view and relegated to an inconvenient position. To add to the difficulties in locating the Latin text, the page number in the Acta Sanctae Sedis was printed as 587 instead of 387, thus misdirecting the researcher.

    Why such obfuscation surrounding the only version of the motu proprio (i.e. the Latin) that conveys in indisputable terms the mind of the Pope? The answer will become clear when we come to examine the important discrepancies between the two docuмents.

    Which version to follow – the Italian or Latin?

    As the use of Latin in drafting docuмents was considered by the Church as the ultimate safeguard of objectivity, it is vitally important for the faithful transmission of the truth in a seamless way. Later generations of Catholics can recognize in the Latin words the exact meaning intended by the Popes. Thus it averted the risk of misleading the faithful through imprecise formulae or the rapid changes in meaning typical of vernacular languages.

    As we shall see, misrepresentation is exactly what happened when TLS was placed into the hands of liturgical reformers. An examination of this docuмent will show that it contains a number of key words and phrases for which there is no translational equivalence in the Latin version.

    In other words, ideas had been inserted into TLS that pander to the aims and objectives of those who wanted to change the liturgy in ways not envisaged by Pope Pius X. Someone even managed to get the word attiva (“active”) written into the text of TLS to describe the participation of the laity, a term entirely missing in the Latin version."
    https://www.traditioninaction.org/HotTopics/f073_Dialogue_1.htm

    So, the ultimate question here is: Did St. Pius X ever actually insert the word "attiva" into the Italian (non-authoritative) original?  If not, who did it, and why?  Why the difference in procedure in the publication of the motu proprio?

    Was the hijacking of the liturgy already taking place during the pontificate of St. Pius X?

    It would seem that the liturgical movement (already modernist by 1920) preferred to follow the Italian (original, but unofficial, and possibly falsified) version, which included the phrase "active participation" and hence gave credibility to the invention of the dialogue Mass (already under St. Pius X's immediate successor, Benedict XV), and from that innovation, the movement never returned to Catholic principles (later overthrowing the traditional Holy Week rites by reforms between 1951-1955, tampering wiwth the canon of the Mass, and eventually bringing these false principles to their logical fruition in the Novus Ordo Missae).


    More from Dr. Byrne regarding the discrepancies in the Italian and Latin (official/authoritative) versions of the motu proprio of St. Pius X:https://www.traditioninaction.org/HotTopics/f074_Dialogue_2.htm


    Dialogue Mass - II
    Pius X Did Not Call for
    ‘Active Participation’ in Liturgy
    Dr. Carol Byrne, Great Britain

    Discrepancies between the Latin and vernacular texts of TLS

    In the last article we pointed out discrepancies between the Italian and Latin versions of Pope Pius X’s motu proprio, Tra le Sollecitudini (TLS), mentioning that the word “active” had been added to the Italian text to describe the participation of the laity.


    Monks singing chant illustrate a medieval manuscript
    [size={defaultattr}][font={defaultattr}]
    Here we shall deal more closely with the Italian version of TLS published in the Acta Sanctae Sedis in relation to the authentic Latin text and show how, on the crucial issue of the participation of the faithful in the liturgy, they diverge in meaning. Clearly, they cannot both represent the mind of the Pope.

    Let us examine § 3 of the Latin version, which indicates Pope Pius X’s intentions. It says in a few succinct words that Gregorian Chant, transmitted by tradition, is to be fully restored to the sacred rites: Cantus gregorianus, quem transmisit traditio, in sacris solemnibus omnino est instaurandus.

    It then goes on to explain why Gregorian Chant should be given back to the people, so that in particular the Christian faithful may once again, in the custom of their forebears, participate more ardently in the liturgy: Praesertim apud populum cantus gregorianus est instaurandus, quo vehementius Christicolae, more maiorum, sacrae liturgiae sint rursus participes.

    Now, we shall examine the pitfalls of having a docuмent in the vernacular (both Italian and English) and the misconceptions that can arise because of faulty translations.

    “By the people”

    TLS says that Gregorian Chant should be restored nell'uso del popolo (for the use of the people) in the liturgy. It does not specify which people or for what purpose – singing or listening – they are to use the Chant. Even worse, the English version states that the use of Gregorian Chant by the people is what the Pope intended. The underlying suggestion made by these vague and generalized paraphrases is that “the people” means the whole congregation and that the Pope wanted them all to join in the Chant.

    But that is an assumption that is not supported by the Latin text, which states that Gregorian Chant is to be restored apud populum, i.e., among or in the presence of the faithful; in other words, in the churches. The Pope had already expressed this idea in his Introduction: ubi Christicolae congregantur (there where the Christian faithful gather).

    Apud is a preposition that indicates proximity or geographical location and cannot be translated by a phrase indicating instrumentality, as in something done “by the people.” In saying that Gregorian Chant should be restored to the people, the Pope gave no indication in this passage or elsewhere in the docuмent that he wanted it to be sung by all the faithful.

    “Active participation”

    The problem revolves around the interpretation of “participation” of the laity in the liturgy as understood by Pope Pius X. Whereas the noun participatio is used on its own in the Latin version, the Italian translation of TLS exceeds the bounds of equivalence by adding the word “active”: “partecipazione attiva” to it. This happens several times, even though there is no equivalent of “active” in the Latin text.

    [/font][/size]

    Active participation in singing has become the norm in Catholic churches
    [size={defaultattr}][font={defaultattr}]
    As accuracy is of primary concern in order to ensure that translations convey the full meaning of the original, it cannot be assumed that the drafter of the Latin version felt no need to include the equivalent of “active” on the grounds that this was implied in “participation.”

    (Incidentally, the Italians were the first to translate pro multis in the Words of Consecration by “for all” on the assumption that “for many” implied “for all,” but this was an erroneous assumption that led to a misunderstanding of the nature of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.)

    No part of the Latin version of the motu proprio indicates that the Pope envisaged an “active” role for the congregation. Paragraphs 12-14 show that the only authorized lay performers are choir members, women excluded. As the raison d’être of Gregorian Chant was the text, not the people, the intention of the Pope was to clothe the text with beauty (verba liturgiae exornare - to embellish the words of the liturgy), not to make the people vociferate.

    Those who insist that TLS was a manifesto for congregational singing make the mistake of giving precedence to so-called “active” participation over the lex orandi (the way prayers and liturgical texts transmit the Faith in the immutable Latin language.)

    “A more active part”

    The Latin version uses the word vehementius to indicate the manner in which the faithful should participate in the liturgy. This is loosely and incorrectly translated in the Italian and English versions to say that all should play a “more active part” (parte più attiva) in the liturgy, and the impression is given that this is accomplished by everyone singing Gregorian Chant. But the Latin text does not support this conclusion.

    Vehementius is related to the Latin adverb vehementer, which has been used throughout classical antiquity, and also in ecclesiastical texts, to indicate intensity of emotions, strength of feelings and other interior dispositions of the human mind. It can be translated by “greatly” or “exceedingly.” (1)

    Pope Pius X used it thus: vehementer optemus (we ardently desire) in the Introduction to the motu proprio to show his fervent desire to restore Gregorian Chant. He also used it in his encyclical Vehementer Nos of 1906 to convey the depth of his grief over the injustices to the Church occasioned by the recent French law on State secularism.

    Vehementius, the comparative form of vehementer, can be translated by “more ardently / more fervently / to a greater degree.” There are no grounds for believing that the Pope was making a comparison between singers and non-singers or suggesting that the latter were somehow deficient in relation to the former. Rather, he was comparing the suitability of Gregorian Chant and profane styles of music (2) in their ability to enhance prayerful participation in the liturgy.

    [/font][/size]

    The Pope called for trained choirs of male voices singing pure chant
    [size={defaultattr}][font={defaultattr}]
    In § 2, the Pope referred to the special power of suitable sacred music on the minds of the faithful who listen to it (in animis audientium illam), moving them to devotion and making them better disposed for the reception of the fruits of grace coming from the celebration of the Mass. The key concept here is that an intellectual grasp of the nature of the Mass is greatly facilitated by listening to the sublime strains of Gregorian Chant sung by a well trained choir – not by the entire congregation.

    Listening is, therefore, approved by the Pope as a way of participating fruitfully in the liturgy. This is reinforced in § 9, which states that the Chant must be sung by the choir for the benefit of the faithful who listen, and in such a way that it must be intelligible to them, i.e., clearly enunciated so as not to obscure the text. (3)

    But, in order to produce the desired effect of appealing to the higher faculties of the soul, especially the intellect, the execution of the Chant must be undertaken by trained choirs: the voices must be pure, restrained, lacking any element of worldliness or self-expression. This was one of the reasons why the Pope did not include a role for the congregation in singing any part of the liturgy.

    Sacred music in the Mass has always been regarded as “participatory” for the faithful insofar as it functions to edify, educate and lift them to devotion. So, pursuing one’s private devotions to the background of liturgical chant performed by the choir cannot be interpreted as non-participation. Yet the liturgical reformers argued that a true understanding of the Mass by the faithful required the elimination of such silent prayers in favor of direct vocal participation. Pope Pius X had given no such directive.

    “In ancient times”

    Liturgists have hastily jumped to the conclusion that the Pope wanted the Church to return to the practice of the early Christians who had included some congregational singing in the liturgy. Where did they get that impression? Certainly not from the Latin version of the motu proprio, which mentions nothing about “ancient times.”

    [/font][/size]

    The Pope called for a return to Gregorian chant following Catholic tradition
    [size={defaultattr}][font={defaultattr}]
    The impression arose from the vernacular texts regarding the meaning of the Latin phrase more maiorum (according to the customs of the ancestors) as used by Pope Pius X in § 3 with reference to Gregorian Chant. The Italian version uses the ambiguous expression “anticamente,” which could mean either in antiquity (4) or simply formerly. The English version, ignoring the second meaning, states that Gregorian Chant used to be the custom in some unspecified “ancient times.” But neither comes near to an accurate translation of more maiorum.

    We need to know the relevance of this particular phrase and why it was chosen as being most appropriate. The mos maiorum (custom of the ancestors) was the unwritten code of traditional values observed by the ancient Romans and incorporated into their laws. It represented their time-honored cultural and social practices and provided guidelines for private, political and military life in Roman times. (5)

    Just as adherence to tradition gave the Romans a sense of what was fitting and proper, the same could be said for the suitability of Gregorian Chant, which had a long and venerable tradition in the Church. The mos maiorum was the medium of transmission of Gregorian Chant, as the Pope explained: it had been handed down by tradition (quem transmisit traditio).

    Now, we can see clearly why Gregorian Chant should be restored to the people: so that, through its special power to move the soul, they can once again participate in the liturgy more maiorum – according to the custom of previous generations of Catholics, before the fashion for theatrical and profane music had invaded the churches.

    There is, thus, no reference to or recommendation of congregational singing, which, if it took place at some times and in some places, was never an established and universal custom of the Roman rite. So, it could not have been designated as part of the mos maiorum.

    We can be sure that the translation “in ancient times” is false for two reasons. First, because more maiorum refers to an ongoing, unbroken tradition, and, second, because customs that have been discarded for centuries cannot be reincorporated into the liturgy without destroying its intrinsically traditional nature. Indeed, any attempt to do so was later condemned as “antiquarianism” by Pope Pius XII in Mediator Dei.[/font][/size]
    Rom 5: 20 - "But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more."


    Offline Last Tradhican

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    Re: Did St. Pius X Want "Active Participation?"
    « Reply #2 on: February 01, 2020, 01:03:57 PM »
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  • The SSPX OP article has no author, maybe it was written by Mickey Mouse. I do not waste my time reading articles with no author's name.

    Did Pope St. Pius X want active participation?  What does the article say is active participation, what does the article say they want people in the pews to do? You know, a person could be VOCALLY singing all the songs and answering the priest loudly and have his mind on the Super Bowl party he's gong to, so he is not participating in the mass. While another person is actively participating by silently doing all the prayers of the mass.

    The Vatican II church - Assisting Souls to Hell Since 1962

    For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Mat 24:24

    Offline songbird

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    Re: Did St. Pius X Want "Active Participation?"
    « Reply #3 on: February 01, 2020, 07:14:01 PM »
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  • Remember, that there was a need for zeal.  A particular bishop made this known to the pope.  Zeal in singing or in the songs of the Mass.  It was known as the Liturgical Movement.  There were 2, a good one and the other which was a "false" liturgical movement.  (for example: true ecuмenism vs false ecuмenism)

    Offline poche

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    Re: Did St. Pius X Want "Active Participation?"
    « Reply #4 on: February 03, 2020, 04:55:20 AM »
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  • I think Pope St Pius X wanted correct participation. 


    Offline ElAusente

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    Re: Did St. Pius X Want "Active Participation?"
    « Reply #5 on: April 09, 2020, 02:43:08 PM »
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  • It is not correct to say that the Latin is the official version of Tra le sollecitudini. The Acta themselves say that the Italian text is the official version, as you can see here: https://books.google.com/books?id=G5YLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA387#v=onepage&q&f=false