Bishop of Linz gets its right!

Ok, it was the Bishop of Linz in 1937, Monsignor Gfoellner, who attacked the Liturgical Movement in ringing terms:

The Liturgical Movement exhibits ever and again regrettable aberrations.

One of the deviations was the prohibition of saying the rosary during Holy Mass. The "Monitum" goes on:

Such efforts must be openly and severely disallowed. Accordingly, the following strict instructions are being issued for secular and regulär clergy without exceptions:

The praying of the holy rosary dare not be crowded out of the Holy Mass as an "unliturgical" prayer; on the contrary, there is hardly a Catholic Mass-devotion which in such a concise, piain, and populär manner renders dear the nature and the meaning of the Holy Mass as just this prayer of the rosary. The Holy Mass is the mystical representation and renewal not of the suffering alone, but of the entire redemptive life . . . mysteries which are commemorated in the three-fold rosary. If for the month of October Leo XIII specifically prescribed the holy rosary during the Holy Mass, no Liturgical Movement has the right to crowd it out of the Mass.

The circular letter of the episcopal members of the Fulda Conference Said of those who combatted certain forms of devotion solemnly approved by the Church, such as devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the holy rosary, the confession of devotion:

Aberrations of this kind dare by no means be tolerated.

Mediator Dei again castigates those who are harsh on the exercises of piety; the old emphasis on the merits of the Mass is quite apparent:

Who, then, would say, on account of such a prejudice, that all these Christians cannot participate in the Mass nor share its fruits? On the contrary, they can adopt some other method which proves easier for certain people; for jnstance, they can lovingly meditate on the mysteries of Jesus Christ or perform other exercises of piety or recite prayers which, though they differ from the sacred rites, are still essentially in harmony with them.

From the Liturgical Renaissance in the Roman Catholic Church, by Ernest Koenker, an extremely well informed protestant who was sympathetic to the liturgical reform. A fascinating book nonetheless.