The traditional mass “outside the walls”, in front of the chapel of the Saint Germain en Laye hospital, will take place every Sunday this summer.
A parishioner was questioned on the subject:
If I understood correctly next Sunday, July 9, you will continue your celebration of a traditional mass in front of the chapel of the hospital of Saint-Germain-en-Laye?
German of Paris : Absolutely, and not only on Sunday July 9 at 11 a.m. but on all Sundays in July and August and of course on Tuesday August 15, for the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
Why this decision?
German of Paris : Quite simply because the Catholic faithful, and therefore also those of Saint-Germain, have the duty to attend mass every Sunday and they would not understand the interruption of the celebration of the usus antiquior for almost two months .
But many faithful go on vacation…
German of Paris : Of course… but also some don’t leave… and others don’t leave for two months. All of this explains our request that the traditional liturgy be celebrated at Saint-Germain every Sunday and feast day of the year, without exception.
But perhaps the diocese cannot always provide this service…
Germain of Paris: This is quite possible and this is why we have always proposed that when the diocese could not ensure the celebration of one or more Sunday masses, it should be normal that we could nevertheless allow this celebration by priests who are ready to ensure it and in this case the diocesan objection would no longer be relevant. And I can affirm that these priests exist.
But then, in your opinion, why this refusal?
German of Paris : It’s quite difficult to explain. One can of course imagine that part of this refusal comes from the tension of the diocese in the genre “We said no it is no”. We see that our pastors do not have children! They do not know how to adapt flexibly and intelligently to circumstances.
What do you mean by that ?
German of Paris : Simply recall that for almost thirty years the diocesan line has been to deny any existence at the request of the faithful of Saint-Germain. I can understand that the shower must have been freezing both on discovering a full church for the Franciscans from the first celebration granted but also by noting that in front of the hospital a more than large group continued to meet every Sunday . Let’s not forget either that many Saint-Germinois practice elsewhere, either in Saint-Louis du Port-Marly or in Villepreux or Versailles for lack of a complete and clear solution.
But are there other reasons for this pastoral harshness?
German of Paris : The secret – and stupid – desire to force us to attend the new liturgy as if we did not know it: an absurdity of course because it is because we know the new liturgy very well that we wish to live our Catholic Faith to the rhythm of the ancient liturgy which is for us more vivifying, pious, beautiful and enriching for our souls.
A last word dear Germain?
Germain of Paris: Let all those who wish to come and attend our celebrations, they are friends whom we love and whom we will discover or rediscover with a good heart.
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