Dom Matthew Britt

Dom Matthew Britt, O.S.B. is one of the great writers of practical liturgics in the twentieth century. His classic How to Serve was republished by Tan in 2011.

This book is a treasure, and I have made extensive use of it, both in planning for Ordinary Form Masses and for learning to serve the Extraordinary Form.

I also have a pamphlet he wrote in 1949 called “Church Linens: a Guide for Altar Societies” that I can highly recommend. It is officially out of print, but numerous (possibly illicit) reproductions can be found.

In all, I’ve found a handful of books that he either wrote or edited that are held in high regard amongst liturgists, particularly of the New Liturgical Movement:

• The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal (1922)
• A Dictionary of the Psalter (1928)
• How to Serve: In Simple, Solemn, and Pontifical Functions (1934)
• Church Linens: A Guide for Altar Societies (1949)

I own, as I said, copies of two of these, and I’m quite interested in obtaining the other two.

You may remember that my parish of Holy Rosary recently celebrated its Quasquicentennial, and as part of that I’m working on writing and editing a history of the parish.

Imagine my surprise when I was editing my parish history project the other day, and I ran across these two entries:

June 24, 1901 Rev. Mark Wiechmann O.S.B. and Rev. Matthew Britt O.S.B. are ordained to the holy Priesthood at Holy Rosary. Father Wiechmann later becomes Pastor at Holy Rosary in 1914 and directs the construction of the current Church building.

July 1, 1901 Rev. Matthew Britt O.S.B. returns to Holy Rosary to say his first High Mass.

I was flabbergasted. Dom Matthew Britt was not only ordained a priest in my parish church, he celebrated his first High Mass there.

Dom Matthew Britt, O.S.B., about 1900

The altar server training program that I helped develop for this parish is partially based on his teaching and scholarship. Our newly forming altar society is using one of his works for reference material.

I definitely feel like I need to learn more about this monk of Saint Martin’s. One thing that I have learned, however, is that he didn’t like beards!

There’s a great newspaper clipping in the archives about the other priest mentioned above, Father Mark Wiechmann. Apparently, he and Father Britt came over from Minnesota together when they were both Deacons.