Thursday, February 7, 2008

A Latin Mass in the Church of England?

I was thumbing through the canons of the Church of England and came across this one, which I thought was interesting:

B 42 Of the language of divine service
1. (1) Subject to the following provisions of this Canon, authorized
forms of services shall be said or sung in English.
(2) In the provinces of Canterbury and York outside England
authorized forms of service may be said or sung in the vernacular.
2. Authorized forms of service may be said or sung in Latin in the
following places –
Provincial Convocations
Chapels and other public places in university colleges and halls
University churches
The colleges of Westminster, Winchester and Eton
Such other places of religious and sound learning as custom allows or the bishop or other the Ordinary may permit

Except for musical arrangements of canticles and eucharistic propers and such, I wonder if this has ever been done. Has it been a common practice? Was it once upon a time, when Latin was more common at the university? I know it is still a technical requirement for ordination in England and Canada, according to the Prayer Book, that they be "learned in the Latin tongue." I know they used to recite the table blessing at Nashotah in Latin and I assume that was common in England around the same era.

Anyone know details about Latin liturgies from the Prayer Book in actual practice?

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