Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Solemn Requiem Mass in Rome for repose of the soul of Fr. Adrian Ckuj

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

A man of holiness and renown Rev. 14:13 RIP

tomt said...

May his memory be Eternal!

Unknown said...

When the deceased person is a priest the coffin is turned around so that his head is nearer the altar and hence the Subdeacon with the cross and the acolytes should be at the east end of the coffin while the Priest, Deacon, MC and Thurifer should be at the west end facing east.

I should have thought the FSSP would know that.

qualcosa di bello said...

thank you so much for sharing this beautiful mass with us. may Fr. Adrian Ckuj rest in peace, in the arms of our dear Lord.

Anonymous said...

David, next time do your homework (the corpse was not present).

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this video. His friends here in Australia miss him dearly. RIP Fr B

Unknown said...

Anonymous! In my experience, when the body of the deceased priest is not physically present but is morally present the same rules apply and why should they not? This is a Mass at the time of death or burial of a priest, not a layman.

Anonymous said...

David, you have still not done your homework.

Next time fine out what the book says, then leave a comment.

Sandford MacLean said...

I am sorry to comment on this old subject, but I cannot let "Anonymous's" comments questioning David pass without any further defence.

"Anonymous" is clearly wrong! When the body of a priest is present either physically or morally, as was the case here, the Absolution of the Dead reverses the normal position of the bier and therefore, the sacred ministers. As this was a funeral Mass, and the body was not morally present, the catafalque should be set up with the head end towards the altar ( ie, the priest would be faced towards the congregation ). If Anonymous wishes to check out any sources for this, I might suggest he read SRC 3767. 26; R.R. VII, iii, 4; S.R.C. 2392.3, 4034.3; O'Connell, "The Celebration of Mass", pp. 540-544.

Was the body morally present? I believe it was, as this was a Funeral Mass, no? O'Connell sates: "The body is said to be present morally, when for a reasonable cause (i.e. fear of contagion, impossibility of keeping the body unburied for the time that would necessary) the body cannot be brought to the church for the funeral service (the funeral Mass and the Absolution), and this even though the body is already buried (cf. RM., no. 45).

So yes, David was correct. The Subdeacon with the Cross, and the acolytes, should be between the catafalque and the Altar, and the Celebrant, Deacon, and MC should stand at the foot, between the catafalque and the west end of the church.

Unknown said...

The crucial question, as Mr. MacLean correctly notes, is whether the body was "morally present." However, the assumption that this was a funeral Mass is apparently not correct. Fr. Ckuj (+RIP) was buried in his home city of Melbourne, AUS, and his funeral mass was conducted there on March 5, 2009. So the Mass depicted in the video was not the funeral Mass, but one said for the repose of Father's soul by his friend and classmate, an FSSP priest. In these circumstances, it is doubtful that the body was morally present. Therefore, the position of the catafalque is not reversed for a priest. (Fortesque (1917) ch xxx, sec 4 n 5)