Incensation and hierarchy

At Solemn Mass it is very noticable how the order of incensation at the Offertory reflects and reminds us of the hierarchy in the sancturary.

First, and with great ceremony, the celebrant incenses the oblata, the host and the chalice, then the Cross and the Altar, with the assistance of the deacon. Then the deacon, with the assistance of the thurifer, incenses first the celebrant, then any clergy there may be in choir, and then the subdeacon (who is holding the paten with the humeral veil). Then the thurifer takes the thurible and incenses the deacon, then the MC, then the acolytes, and then the congregation.

(Thurifer incensing the deacon.)

In incensing the oblata, the celebrant is giving honour to Our Lord, who is about to make Himself present in them. The celebrant honours Him also in the Cross and the Altar. The celebrant is then himself honoured by the deacon, followed by other priests present in choir and the subdeacon (who is liturgically a subdeacon, even if he is actually a Monsignor!). Since the Deacon cannot incense himself, it falls to the thurifer to do this, followed by the remaining ranks of people present: MC, acolytes, and the faithful.

(Thurifer incensing the acolytes.)

In this way is the liturgical hierarchy emphasised: first God, and then the ranks of the clergy and others according to their liturgical function. Into this hierarchy relics or sacred images exposed on the altar for the occasion are added, as are on occasion especially important clerics (if a Bishop is present) or laity (if a Catholic monarch were present, for example). The lower ranks receive fewer swings of the thurible.

(Thurifer incensing the congregation.)

In doing this we witness sacred ordering of the offices, not of the individuals holding the offices, and it is the offices not exactly of the Christian society, but of the Mass. In Christian society a bishop would outrank the simple priest who is celebrant, but here we have a ranking of function of the liturgy just now taking place: in this Mass the celebrant has a more central role than a bishop in choir. The various functionaries at the altar have importance, and honour, just in so far as they have a role in the service of the Altar. The worthiness or otherwise of the individuals is not now at issue: we are dealing with an objective order of function.

The word 'hierarchy' means a 'sacred order'. The sacred order in a Solemn Mass, of which we see a simplified version in a Missa Cantata, is a glimpse of the sacred order of the heavenly liturgy. This is just one small way, in which the thurifer plays an important role, that the Traditional liturgy communicates the grandeur both of God and of the sacred action taking place on the altar.

(Photos from a Solemn Mass celebrated by Fr Marek Grabowski FSSP in St William of York. See the full set of photos here, and a post about the Mass here.)

Incensed incense

This definitely comes into the category of 'don't try this at home', but it is something which occasionally happens: if the charcoal is too hot, the incense, instead of smouldering, catches fire, with flames. This was first posted on the LMS Chairman blog.

By chance this particular occasion was caught on video. You can see that the trouble started when the extra incense was put onto the coals.




Some of the comments on the Gloria TV page (where the video has been watched more than 3,500 times!) are helpful, notably:

'Just lift the lid and blow it out and immediately drop the lid and you should be good to go. Sure beats possibly catching linens on fire.'

In this case the thurifer had no difficulty in extinguishing the flames when he got the thurible back into the sacristy. Had he noticed it sooner, he could have taken quicker action.

Cardinal Arinze and others on Female Altar Servers

Cardinal Arinze speaks for himself in this YouTube video.


Fr Joseph Fessio makes a brief but systematic contribution to the debate here.

The Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, under the leadership of Bishop Bruskewitz, is the only diocese in the United States not to permit altar girls (which are only permitted with the express permission of the local bishop). There is an interesting short article on the subject on the diocesan website; in case it is taken down we reproduce it here.


'Seedlings', by Fr Christopher Kubat.

The question whether women can be admitted to the sacrament of Holy Orders continues to be raised, despite Pope John Paul II definitively saying in his apostolic letter entitled Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, “I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”

Canon law states, “Only a baptized male validly receives sacred ordination” (can 1024). Further, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Only a baptized man validly receives sacred ordination. The Lord Jesus chose men to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry … The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible” (CCC 1577).

Are there any other reasons? Aren’t women smart, wise and hard-working enough, sharing the same dignity as men? Certainly. Some have argued that they are more sensitive and nurturing than men, something I wouldn’t disagree with. I would argue as a whole, women have a higher pain tolerance than men. How about natural courage? How many women and men were at the foot of the cross? These arguments, however, have nothing to do with the question at hand.

Once, while flying, I sat next to a woman who told me she was an Episcopalian priest. I asked her to define marriage. Thankfully she stated that marriage is for one man and one woman, because this constitutes another powerful argument. Yes, marriage is for one man and one woman (Gen 1:27; 2:24), something that Jesus the Eternal High Priest Himself re-iterated (Mt 19:4-6). In a beautiful vision, an angel said to John the evangelist, “Come, I will show you the Bride (referring to the Church, the mystical body of Christ), the wife of the lamb (referring to Christ Jesus the bridegroom)”(Rev 21:9).

St. Paul completes the connection in his letter to the Ephesians. In it, he exhorts wives to be subject to their husbands as the Church is to Christ, and husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church (this means that husbands are to mount the cross daily for their wives). Therefore, if the Catholic Church is the bride (feminine), and an ordained priest who stands in the person of Christ shares in this spousal relationship as the bridegroom Jesus Christ (male), it is necessary that candidates to Holy Orders be men. This is why the Church has no authority to admit women to the priesthood. It is about nuptials.

What about altar servers? On July 27, 2001 the Congregation for Divine Worship’s Letter on Altar Servers states that “no priest is obligated to have female servers, even in dioceses where this is permitted.” Why is this, since girls are as smart and capable as boys? Because many boys, myself included, first received their calling to the priesthood as altar boys, and when girls are allowed to serve, some boys fall away and lose interest.

Please pray for the young men who will be ordained to the diaconate May 28 and to the priesthood May 29. They are the ones who will forgive sins (Jn 20:23), offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24) give us the Most Holy Eucharist, and anoint us on our deathbeds (Jas 5:14-15).

SST/LMS Training Day at Leicester in August

The Latin Mass Society will be holding its next training programme, in association with the Society of St Tarcisius, a one-day event, on Tuesday, 23 August, at Holy Cross Priory, 45 Wellington Street, Leicester LE1 6HW.


This will be for priests and servers wishing to study the rubrics of the Mass in its Solemn Form and who are already familiar with Low Mass.

The day will start at 9.30am and finish around 5.00pm. The fee for attending will be £5.00. For further details, contact the LMS office on 020 7404 7284, email info@lms.org.uk. To register for the training event, please download and complete the application form, returning it to the address specified.

Arthur Crumley, RIP

This website has previously drawn the attention of its readers to the writings of Mr Arthur Crumley, previously leading Master of Ceremonies of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. Mr Crumley was a firm defender of the traditional liturgy, and upholder of high standards of service at the altar.

The news has been received that Mr Crumley died earlier this weekend. He had, apparently, been suffering form the effects of a minor stroke last year.

Reader, please pray for his soul.

In memoria aeterna erit justus. Ab auditione mala non timebit.

Serving a Low Requiem Mass

Question: What differences are there in serving a Low Mass of Requiem?

Answer: If you know how to serve Low Mass, it should be easy to adapt to a Requiem. There are a few omissions that you should be aware of in advance.

Essentially, prayers and ceremonies that have a particular reference to the living, or to rejoicing, are left out. For example, there is no Alleluia or Gloria Patri, and no blessing of water at the offertory, or of the people at the end.

1. There is no psalm Judica me at the start; the priest moves straight from the versicle and response 'Introibo ad altare Dei. Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam.' to 'Adjutorium nostrum.' The psalm is regarded as having some character of rejoicing, and is also omitted in Passiontide.
2. The priest doesn't cross himself at the Introit, so the server doesn't either. Instead the priest makes a cross over the book. Notice also that the Introit has no Gloria Patri, since this has some element of rejoicing.
3. Check that the priest is saying the Dies Irae, since this is optional in the standard daily low mass for the dead. If so, then you don't need to rise to move the book until towards the end of it. If not, then rise at the start of the Tract 'Absolve' as usual.
4. The water isn't blessed at the offertory.
5. If you usually kiss the cruets, then don't at a Requiem. (In fact, I'd suggest you don't ever do it!)
6. The reply to 'Requiescant in pace' at the end is 'Amen'. This takes the place of 'Ite missa est' or 'Benedicamus Domino' in a Requiem.
7. Don't kneel for the blessing, since there isn't one. Move straight after the Requiescant to your place for the Last Gospel.

Enrolment ceremony for the SST is now available for download

The enrolment ceremony for becoming a member of the Society of St Tarcisius is now available for download here.

This should be a useful resource for any priest performing the enrolment ceremony and, of course, for those actually being enrolled! The text is in Latin and English side by side.