Novus Ordo!

2012 Ordo Recitandi of the St Lawrence Press

I am a fan of Rubricarius' work over at the St. Lawrence Press, which publishes an Ordo according to the 1939 typical edition of the Missale Romanum and the Divine Office that would have been prayed that year. This Ordo is both useful and educational. One only has to pay attention to a few days to realize 1962 is not entirely the "old rite." What you may not know is that the same Rubricarius runs the Tridentine Rite blog, which, for a day or two a week, gives an Ordo according to the 1568 Office and 1570 Missal. I do not believe the Tridentine Rite is linked with a published physical Ordo and is likely educationally oriented. That said it reveals quite a bit about how the kalendar and Office varied in the 20th century from the more ancient tradition. The Tridentine Rite follows the Julian kalendar (and I do not!), and does not purport to be something usable for those praying Mass or the Office daily. Which brings us to our point.

from: orbiscatholicussecundus.blogspot.com

Given that the two Ordines of Mr. Rubricarius follow 1568/1570 and 1939 respectively one might begin to see the old liturgy, encompassing the kalendar and Office as well as the Mass, as a museum piece and that a return to it in any form is not only unlikely but implausible. The Rad Trad himself has written of the issues that plagued the 1910-era Office and suggested that a simple kalendar reform would have done the trick; a full overhaul of the psalter and rubrics was unnecessary. A blogger who sometimes comments here as "John R," a true gentleman, has taken to the task of writing a proposal of what this reformed kalendar might look like, a novus Ordo if you will!—I hope he does not mind the pun. His new blog, the Current Tridentine Ordo, yesterday posted a proposed kalendar effective now through July 6. It is a remarkably clean kalendar which preserves the old ranking system and rubrics, eliminates some obscure medieval/Counter-Reformation saints whose cults  are long gone, adds some saints St. Pius V removed or elevates some (like St. Ephrem) to a rank commensurate with their standing (Doctor of the Church in St. Ephrem's case), and has some methodological notes at the bottom. As you will see the ferial cycle dominates until the Octave of St. John the Baptist (John R has kept St. Pius X's octave ranking system, perhaps not a bad idea), at which point the sanctoral cycle takes over. This system balances the ferial and sanctoral well enough to prove that the old system was not only cleaner and more stable, but it is also just as usable if not more usable than the Pian, Johannine, and Pauline editions. If any of my readers work for the Sacred Congregation of Rites or Ecclesia Dei, click on John's didactic new blog and have a look at what could be. There is even a post for what today's entire BVM on Saturday liturgy could look like.

Note: John has, wisely, used the hymns as they existed before Urban VIII and after Paul VI. See the doxology Gloria tibi Domine qui natus es.... in the little hours.