CathInfo.com

Which rite of Mass do you think the Church in England should use? The Anglican Use is obviously out of the question, as although it is the NO at it's best it's still NO. The three major options I see are the Roman rite Mass (Tridentine), the Sarum rite and the York Use; the later two having been virtually destroyed by Henry VIII and Edward VI.

Which rite of Mass do you think the Church in England should use? The Anglican Use is obviously out of the question, as although it is the NO at it's best it's still NO. The three major options I see are the Roman rite Mass (Tridentine), the Sarum rite and the York Use; the later two having been virtually destroyed by Henry VIII and Edward VI.

This question often comes up in conversations I have with others (I dunno why).

I think that the English clergy "lost their chance" to retain their Medieval local Usages, when, because of the tumult of the persecutions and exiles as well as an expression of obedience to the Holy See, they did not invoke the privilege given by the Bull of St. Pius V Quo primum tempore to those local diocesan Usages which were 200 years or older, that they may be exempt from the decree to conform to the newly edited Missale Romanum. This is why the Rites of Lyons and Braga, for example, and those of the Religious Orders (such as the Dominicans, Carmelites, Benedictines, Carthusians, etc.) were allowed to continue.

I do not think that the English clergy may claim to use the Sarum Rite, or any other Medieval Usage, without express permission of the Holy See, which would entail a critical study of the pertinent MSS, and the compilation of a typical edition of the Missale and the Breviarium of the Sarum Rite. This is true especially because the adoption of the Sarum Rite has been the hallmark of the Anglo-Catholics and those who adhere to what is called "Western Orthodoxy."

If such a thing happens in the future, the Sarum Rite would have to be updated anyways, because the ancient MSS still have the old Roman Psalter (pre-1911) and the rubrics (especially those of occurrence and concurrence) would be incompatible with the practice of the Latin Occident.

I hope one day the Roman Pontiff does allow the Sarum Rite, whose remnants are to be found in the traditional Dominican and Carmelite Rites anyways. The way these Rites were reformed to conform with the decrees of the Popes and the Congregation of Sacred Rites may prove to be a precedent for the process of re-establishing and reforming the Sarum Rite.

Hope this helps!  :chef:

Ahh thank you sir.