By a decree of 25 May 2024, the Priory of Saint Benedict in Monte near Norcia, Italy, was elevated to an Abbey!
The new Abbot is Dom Benedict Nivakoff, OSB, the first Abbot there since 1792.
This is great news. The monastery is liturgically traditional, using the Vetus Ordo. This is on par with the elevation of the Benedictines at Gower Abbey in Missouri.
Let us all thank God for this great gift to the whole Church.
Here is a shot of the founder, Dom Cassian Folsom, making his obeisance to the new Abbot.
These are the Benedictines who make the wonderful beer I keep pushing.
Our Catholic friends were invited by their fallen-away sibling to baptize their new baby. The parents didn’t intent to have the child baptized they didn’t care if our friends did it.
In the case of such a lay baptism, is there a format to be followed? I believe they sang some hymns, did a reading, said an exorcism, and baptized the baby.
GUEST PRIEST RESPONSE:
Ah yes, the “Grandma Baptism Experience”
Probably valid, but still problematic.
First off, the folks who did the baptism should immediately contact the geographic parish in which they performed the baptism, submit a signed statement stating the baptismal formula they used (hopefully, “I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”). This will need to be recorded in the parish register for posterity’s sake. If the pastor is the decent sort, he will indeed record this baptism but also invite the family in for a conversation and hopefully schedule a Rite for Bringing a Baptized Child into the Church (formerly known as “supplying the ceremonies”). [NB: Still known as that! – Fr Z]
It’s nice that they sang some hymns (we should have more hymn-singing in homes!) and read a reading (always good to read from the Holy Book. They did not say an exorcism – they may have said words of exorcism, but they did not say an exorcism because they lack the authority to do so. “Satan begone!” is a good thing to say, especially if one is troubled or sensing some evil presence, and Satan and his minions recoil at the use – even by lay people – of sacramentals and blessed objects. But attempting an exorcism when one is not authorized to do so is not only ineffectual, but frequently harmful. Satan knows what he’s doing and is a dangerous adversary with whom to mess around. [NB: Lay people should NEVER attempt exorcisms.]
The larger question, whether the friends should have agreed to perform a baptism when the parents do not intend to raise the child Catholic, looms over us. Baptism is a serious thing, not some sort of magic ceremony or a “get out of hell” card. One who is baptized assumes great responsibility – to live according to the laws of the Church. Baptism is a covenant: God agrees to do this, and the baptized agrees to do that.
When an infant is baptized, the parents (or those who take their place, such as in a case of adoption or grandparental custody) make that agreement for the child. In this case, the parents, who speak for their underage child not only don’t agree to do that, but seem to have explicitly stated they will not hold up their end of the bargain.
We can hope and pray that the child herself grows into the grace she has received at her putatively valid baptism (and there are cases of that happening), but there are manifold cases where this simply does not happen, and particularly if the parents who are raising her – and who will have direct and daily influence on the education and maturation of their child – have no intention of helping her to cooperate with the grace she received.
If baptism alone – without the consent of the baptized or the parents who stand in their place – were a good thing, the Church would have ordered a hundred years ago that the Jesuits (back when they were the Jesuits) fly around the world in airplanes spraying water and baptizing everyone they spotted.
Fr. Gabriel Díaz-Patri, researching the debates at Vatican II on Latin in the liturgy, demonstrates that the Council Fathers were told by the official relator that they were voting for the following:
1. Latin *must* be kept in the liturgy; this is not optional.
The Lie That Was Told to Over 2,000 Council Fathers at Vatican II
[…]
Some Council Fathers were worried about the loopholes. But the relator, that is, the rapporteur tasked with speaking to the assembly on behalf of the committee working on the document, reassured them that total vernacularization was out of the question.
[…]
The Latin Mass and the Intellectuals: Petitions to Save the Ancient Mass from 1966 to 2007
Norway Chess is underway, men and women (separate). I think all the men’s classical games drew and winners for the round were determined by armageddon. Hence, Hikaru beat Fabi, Prag beat Firouzja (yay!) and Magnus beat Ding. The Magnus Ding match was strange. Carlsen, who often is late to his board in a dishevelled state, was half an hour early. Then, after a few moves, Magnus left the board and didn’t return for 15 MINUTES. Hikaru said:
Nakamura: “It’s pretty funny to see Magnus… in the back room eating, he spent like 13 minutes eating noodles, salad and a big pepperoni pizza” ?#NorwayChesspic.twitter.com/XxatOZQL45
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
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Support the sisters!
I had a nice note from them. They wrote to say that they are sending me candles for the chapel:
Our community is doing well and continuing to steadily grow, praise God. We have a new postulant right now and a number of young women in various stages of the discernment process. We’ve also had several sisters transfer here recently. The Master of the Order visited us yesterday which was a big excitement for us, and we had such a nice visit with him.
We continue to keep you in our prayers! Please pray for us as well.
I was sent a piece from the Italian news agency ANSA about an address Francis gave to the Italian bishops, whose plenary is at this time of year. My contacts in Italy say the press is going bananas over this.
In a nutshell, in no uncertain terms, Francis said that… well… here’s the top of the story from ANSA.
Durissimo attacco di Papa Francesco contro la presenza di omosessuali nei seminari.
Nell’incontro a porte chiuse con gli oltre 200 vescovi italiani, che lunedì scorso ha aperto nell’Aula del Sinodo l’assemblea generale della Cei, il Pontefice su questo argomento si è lanciato in serratissimi richiami verso una maggiore selezione negli accessi ai seminari, non senza usare termini anche coloriti e puntando persino il dito – come ha riferito il sito Dagospia, seguito poi da altri media – contro l’eccesso di “frociaggine”.
Very harsh attack by Pope Francis against the presence of homosexuals in seminaries.
In the closed-door meeting with over 200 Italian bishops, which opened the general assembly of the CEI in the Synod Hall last Monday, the Pontiff made very strong calls on this topic for greater selection in access to seminaries, not without using colorful terms and even pointing the finger – as reported by the Dagospia website, followed by other media – against the excess of “faggotry”.
Il severo intervento del Pontefice, che non ha mancato di sorprendere i presenti, è confermato da diverse fonti. Per Bergoglio, quindi, non vanno ammessi omosessuali nei seminari. Dal “chi sono io per giudicare” a una posizione ora molto più tranchant, se non altro per quanto riguarda la selezione e formazione dei sacerdoti. Il tema è oggetto di dibattito da molti anni, e già un’istruzione del dicastero vaticano per il Clero del 2005 – sotto Benedetto XVI – confermata nel 2016 con papa Francesco, stabiliva che “la Chiesa, pur rispettando profondamente le persone in questione, non può ammettere al Seminario e agli Ordini sacri coloro che praticano l’omosessualità, presentano tendenze omosessuali profondamente radicate o sostengono la cosiddetta cultura gay”.
The severe intervention of the Pontiff, which did not fail to surprise those present, is confirmed by various sources. For Bergoglio, therefore, homosexuals should not be allowed in seminaries. From “who am I to judge” to a now much more trenchant position, if only with regards to the selection and training of priests. The topic has been the subject of debate for many years, and an instruction from the Vatican Dicastery for the Clergy in 2005 – under Benedict XVI – confirmed in 2016 with Pope Francis, established that “the Church, while profoundly respecting the people in question, does not can admit to the Seminary and Holy Orders those who practice homosexuality, have deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or support the so-called gay culture”.
I vescovi italiani, da parte loro, nell’ultima assemblea svoltasi ad Assisi avevano dibattuto sulla possibilità di restrizioni più sfumate, sentendosi incoraggiati proprio dalle passate aperture di Bergoglio sul tema dell’omosessualità. Pur tra molte contestazioni, era stato quindi approvato un emendamento che si limitava a distinguere tra “atti” e “tendenze”, ribadendo l’obbligo del celibato per tutti i seminaristi, omosessuali ed eterosessuali, e aprendo così la porta dei seminari ai candidati gay al sacerdozio impegnati però nell’opzione del celibato. Ma nel confronto di un’ora e mezza con i presuli, di fatto il Papa ha sbarrato la strada: quindi rispetto, sì, per la persona gay che bussa alle porte del seminario, ma ponendo dei fermi paletti all’accesso per evitare che l’omosessuale che sceglie il sacerdozio finisca per fare una doppia vita, con tutte le conseguenze negative del caso. E per rafforzare il suo parere ed essere chiaro anche con una battuta, Francesco avrebbe recriminato esplicitamente sull’eccesso di “frociaggine” in certi seminari italiani.
The Italian bishops, for their part, in the last assembly held in Assisi had debated the possibility of more nuanced restrictions, feeling encouraged by Bergoglio’s past openness on the topic of homosexuality. Despite many protests, an amendment was therefore approved which limited itself to distinguishing between “acts” and “tendencies”, reiterating the obligation of celibacy for all seminarians, homosexual and heterosexual, and thus opening the door of the seminaries to gay candidates to the priesthood committed however to the option of celibacy. But in an hour and a half confrontation with the prelates, the Pope effectively blocked the way: therefore respect, yes, for the gay person who knocks on the doors of the seminary, but by placing firm barriers at access to prevent the The homosexual who chooses the priesthood ends up leading a double life, with all the negative consequences that entails. And to strengthen his opinion and be clear even with a joke, Francis would have explicitly complained about the excess of “faggotry” in certain Italian seminaries.
[…]
[…]
The Jesuits and Fishwrap were unavailable for comment.
The Italian word “frocio”, even worse in its Roman version “froscio”, has uncertain roots. One believable explanation is that it derives ultimately from Latin ferox. There are other less polite origins.
Like last year, I preached at ST*. After all, I’m the bishop, right? I used some of the same ideas as last year, and the year before that and the year before that going all the way back. So long ago, now. Seems forever ago and also like yesterday. Anyway, since I never really got the Trinity back in seminary classes I use some of oldies but goodies cause that’s what people like. People do, and so does Fr. Gilbert but Fr. Tommy goes out of his mind. Last year he went after me for the whole Trinity is like water idea.** At first, I thought he was saying that that was heresay but he was saying herisy, which I guess is not such a good idea, at least in the cathedral. Anyway, I’m waiting to hear what Tommy has to say for the new one, about the egg.*** HA… also, we can have eggs different ways, too! No, maybe that doesn’t work cause I can think of about a dozen ways for eggs. Gilbert had a good one maybe for next year. I didn’t get it at first, since my math isn’t that great. God is not like 1+1+1 since that means different pieces add up to God, which is now that I think of it, kinda like the egg one. Anyway, Gilbert said its more like 1x1x1 which he says is still just 1.**** I told Dozer that one when he called to invite me over to Pie Town for a Memorial Day party with some of their priests. He said that I finally got it! Good ol’ Dozer. Like he knows. Chester knows more about the Trinity than he does.
Tired. It’s confirmation season so I have to keep my energy in reserve. It’ll help to have extra helpings. Isn’t that why they are called helpings? Fr Tommy always rolls his eyes when I say that. He’ll be driving this week since Gilbert is going on a pilgrimage with STers to Ireland or Mexico, one of those places. I’ll check. Food’s gotta be better in Mexico. Speaking of food, I hope there’s steaks tomorrow. Dozer said I should stay over, so that means lotsa chow. Got keep this short. Long drive so morning comes early, like maybe even 9.
___
Editor’s Note:
*The Libville Cathedral is called “Spirit and Truth” Cathedral. It is really St. Telesphorus. They didn’t want Telesphorus after he was removed from the calendar in 1970 so they called it “Spirit and Truth” because +Fatty’s predecessor wanted the cathedral rectory’s engraved silverware and placesettings to have the same initials, ST for Saint Telephrous.
**Modalism: the Trinity is like water, which can be fluid, steam or frozen.
***Partialism, the heresy that God is made up of different components, together making one God when together.
****Wrong again. That would mean that only one Diving Person multiplied Himself, when in fact all Three Persons were distinct in eternity, without beginning.
Tripled pawns and down a piece in this composed puzzle. Black’s pieces are stuck. But not for long. White to move and force mate in 5.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
Norway Chess starts today in Stavanger. Classical. Double round robin of 6 players. Both Ding and Magnus are there. $70K 1st prize for both men and women. There is a women’s section, too. I stopped in at the beginning of the stream and heard that Magnus has already been at his board for half an hour… with combed hair. He often rolls in late, disheveled.
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It is fitting to honor those who served in the armed forces and who gave their lives.
Today I especially have in mind fallen military chaplains.
Here is just one example of service and valor for love of God, neighbor and country.
Father Vince Capodanno was Maryknoll missionary priest. He was sent first to the missions in Taiwan and later joined the US Navy and served with the 7th Marines in Vietnam and then, after working at the naval hospital, with the 5th Marines.
On 4 September 1967 there was a terrible battle in Que-Son Valley. As the battle developed Fr. Capodanno heard over the radio that things were getting dicey and so he requested to go out with M company.
As they approached the small village of Chau Lam, they were caught under fire on a knoll. There was terrible fighting, even hand to hand, and they were almost over run. Father Capodanno was wounded in the face and his hand was almost severed by a mortar round but he continued to giving last rites and take care of his Marines. He was killed trying to get to a wounded marine only 15 yards away from an enemy machine gun.
In January 1969, Lieutenant Vincent R. Capodanno, MM, became the second chaplain in United States history to receive our nation’s highest military honor. “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty …”, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Lt. Vincent Capodanno’s Medal of Honor hangs in the Capodanno Chapel at The Basic School aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, as of December 9, 2014. The medal was donated by his family and dedicated to the chapel.
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Chaplain of the 3d Battalion, in connection with operations against enemy forces.
In response to reports that the 2d Platoon of M Company was in danger of being overrun by a massed enemy assaulting force, Lt. Capodanno left the relative safety of the company command post and ran through an open area raked with fire, directly to the beleaguered platoon.
Disregarding the intense enemy small-arms, automatic-weapons, and mortar fire, he moved about the battlefield administering last rites to the dying and giving medical aid to the wounded.
When an exploding mortar round inflicted painful multiple wounds to his arms and legs, and severed a portion of his right hand, he steadfastly refused all medical aid. Instead, he directed the corpsmen to help their wounded comrades and, with calm vigor, continued to move about the battlefield as he provided encouragement by voice and example to the valiant Marines.
Upon encountering a wounded corpsman in the direct line of fire of an enemy machine gunner positioned approximately 15 yards away, Lt. Capodanno rushed a daring attempt to aid and assist the mortally wounded corpsman. At that instant, only inches from his goal, he was struck down by a burst of machine gun fire.
By his heroic conduct on the battlefield, and his inspiring example, Lt. Capodanno upheld the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the cause of freedom.
In addition, he was also awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal. The government of Vietnam awarded him the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Silver Star and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with device.
Fr. Capodanno’s cause has been opened:
Prayer to Obtain a Favor Through the Intercession of the Servant of God Father Vincent R. Capodanno, M.M. by Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio
Almighty and merciful God, look with Love on those who plead for Your help. Through the intercession of your servant, Father Vincent Capodanno, missionary and Catholic Navy Chaplain, grant the favor I earnestly seek (mention the request). May Vincent, who died bringing consolation to the Marines he was privileged to serve on the field of battle, intercede in my need as I pray in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
I want to add a word of thanks to a priest friend of mine, Fr. Tim Vakoc, a couple years behind me in seminary. He suffered serious wounds in Iraq, which, after causing years of suffering in the VA, eventually lead to his passing away. May he rest in peace.
These men served in hell armed with love of God and love of country. We should remember chaplains.
The creators of this book had it translated into several language and were distributing it outside of the Synod (“walking together”) Meeting Hall and were squealed on by Vatican to the cops, who pretty much drove them away for “permits”, blah blah.
These are trustworthy and dedicated people!
They also, sort of at my instigation, reprinted the beautiful The Life of Little Saint Placid, originally in French, by Mother Geneviève Gallois. HERE
I received this note, which is an ACTION ITEM!
Hello Father!
You may remember that crazy quixotic quest in which we gave away thousands of copies of Treasure and Tradition in magazine form during the 2019 Pan Amazon Synod…
I thought it might please you to know that I managed to snag a booth at the Eucharistic Congress this summer, and I plan to reprise that role by giving away 10,000 copies of the same book, but this time (hopefully anyway) no one can chase us away.
Of course, I’ve had to pay handsomely for the privilege, and I’ve just been informed that on top of the exorbitant amount we paid for the booth, we are going to be required to pay hefty fees every single time we want to stock our table from our truck full of boxes. Union labor requirements.
Faced with truly ridiculous costs, I come to you with hat in hand, wondering whether this is something you might consider sharing with your readership.
I know last time it was in our favor that you did not publicize our fundraiser, as it allowed us to fly under the radar. I don’t know if that is important this time or not. Only you can say whether this is something you would wish to promote; at the very least, however, I hope I can count on your prayers.
This time of year many new priests are being ordained and, consequently, many priests observe their own anniversaries.
In the traditional, Vetus Ordo of the Roman Rite a priest can add orations for himself, Pro seipso sacerdote, on the anniversary of his ordination.
I must confess that I add them on other days too. I just need to.
The 2002MR has three formularies Pro seipso sacerdote while the 1962MR has but one (which really is enough).
Let’s look at the prayer in the Vetus Ordo, the Roman Rite:
COLLECT (1962MR):
Omnípotens et miséricors Deus, humilitátis meae preces benígnus inténde: et me fámulum tuum, quem, nullis suffragántibus méritis, sed imménsa cleméntiae tuae largitáte, caeléstibus mystériis servíre tribuísti, dignum sacris altáribus fac minístrum; ut, quod mea voce deprómitur, tua sanctificatióne firmétur.
SLAVISHLY LITERAL VERSION:
Almighty and merciful God, kindly hark to the prayers of my humility: and make me, Your servant, whom, no merits of my own favoring me but by the immense largess of your indulgence, You granted to serve the heavenly mysteries, to be a worthy minister at the sacred altars; so that, that which is called down by my voice, may be made sure by Your sanctification.
The prayer focuses on priest’s self-awareness of his lowliness. Who he is and what he does is from God’s grace and choice, not his own.
It also emphasis the relationship of the priest to the altar, that is, the bond of the priest and Holy Mass. Priests are ordained for sacrifice.
No priest, no sacrifice, no Mass, no Eucharist.
In the older form of Holy Mass, after the consecration during the Roman Canon at the Suppplices te rogamus… the priest bends low over the altar. He puts his hands on it. They, his hands and the altar, were anointed with Sacred Chrism. He kisses the altar. Then he makes signs of the Cross over the consecrated Host on the corporal, over the Precious Blood in the chalice, and over himself.
Christ is Victim. Christ is Priest. The priest is victim and priest as well.
This moment during Holy Mass reveals his mysterious bond with the altar, where the priest sacrifices the victim. Sacrificial victim and sacrificing priest are one. At the altar he is alter Christus, another Christ, offering and offered.
In regard to the Sacred Chrism and ordination, a few years ago I heard the sermon of His Excellency, Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino of Madison – deeply missed, rest in peace – at the ordination of priests. He made the recommendation that, in hard times, the men should put a drop of Chrism on their hands, and rub it in, to remind them of who they are.
What also comes to mind, in considering the bond of priest and altar and victim upon it, is the Augustinian reflection of the speaker of the Word and the Word spoken, and the message and reality of the Word and the Voice which speaks it.
The voice of the priest and the priest himself are merely the meansGod uses in the sacred action, the sacramental mysteries at the altar, to renew in that moment what He has wrought.
Finally, this is done through mercy. The words misericors, clementia, largitas, benignus all point to the mercy of God.
The priest speaks and God makes what he speaks reality.
He takes the priest’s insubstantial words and makes them firm and real.
He takes unworthy men, priests, and gives them His own power.
The priest must get himself out of the way when he is at the altar, where the True Actor is in action, Christ the Eternal and High Priest.
This is why ad orientem worship is so important.
I think that there is little chance of a renewal of Eucharistic faith and piety in the Church without ad orientem worship and without the slow but sure elimination of Communion on the hand.
SECRET (1962MR):
Huius, Dómine, virtúte sacraménti, peccatórum meórum máculas abstérge: et praesta; ut ad exsequéndum injúncti offícii ministérium, me tua grátia dignum effíciat.
SLAVISHLY LITERAL VERSION:
O Lord, by the power of this sacrament, cleanse the stains of my sins: and grant; that it may make me worthy by Your grace unto the performance of the ministry of the office that has been imposed.
Priests are sinners in need of a Savior just like everyone else.
They confess their own sins and receive absolution from a priest like everyone else.
They, too, must do penance for past sins like everyone else.
They, while coming to the altar as alter Christus, come to the altar as sinners. There is only one perfect one.
In the older Vetus Ordo of Holy Mass, the priest is constantly reminded about who he is and who he isn’t. The newer form? Not so much.
In this Secret, spoken quietly, the priest prays for what only God can do: remove the stains of sins from his soul.
The prayer brings also to mind the burden of the yoke of the priesthood, symbolized by the priestly vestment, the chasuble. Whatever its shape, the chasuble is a sign of the priest’s subjugation.
As the priest puts on this most visible of his vestments, he traditionally prays, “O Lord, Who said: My yoke is easy and My burden light: grant that I may bear it well and follow after You with thanksgiving. Amen.” The yoke is the ancient sign of subjugation. The ancient Romans caused the conquered to pass under a yoke, iugum.
This attitude of the priest at the altar, formed by the prayer and the very vestment he wears, can teach us a great deal about the nature and design of all the things that we employ for the celebration of Mass.
POSTCOMMUNION (1962MR):
Omnípotens sempitérne Deus, qui me peccatórem sacris altáribus astáre voluísti, et sancti nóminis tui laudáre poténtiam: concéde propítius, per hujus sacraménti mystérium, meórum mihi véniam peccatórum; ut tuae majestáti digne mérear famulári.
SLAVISHLY LITERAL VERSION:
Almighty eternal God, who desired me, a sinner, to stand at the sacred altars, and to praise the might of Your Holy Name: propitiously grant, through the mystery of this sacrament, the forgiveness for me of my sins; so that I may merit to wait upon Your majesty.
On the day of ordination the priest lies down upon the floor.
He is, in that moment, part of the floor.
He is the lowest thing in the church.
Consider two sets of contrasts.
First, there is the contrast of the low state of the servant sinner and the majesty of God.
Second, there is the present moment contrasted with the future to come.
Majestas is like gloria, Hebrew kabod or Greek doxa, a divine characteristic which – some day – we may encounter in heaven in such a way that we will be transformed by it forever and forever. When Moses encountered God in the cloud on the mountain and in the tent, he came forth with a face shining so brightly that he had to wear a veil. This is a foreshadowing of the transformative power of God’s majestas which he will share with the saints in heaven.
The priest waits upon majestas.
He waits on it, in that he awaits it. And he waits upon it. He serves it, like a waiting waiter, he serves it out as well. He also desires it for his own future. But in the present moment he waits upon it as a servant. He is an attendant, in every sense. He is one who waits and he is one who waits.
May God have mercy on all priests, sinner servants, attendant on the unmerited grace and gifts of the Victim Priest and Savior. May God have mercy on me, a sinner. Pray for me, a sinner.
Daily Prayer for Priests
O Almighty Eternal God, look upon the face of Thy Christ, and for the love of Him who is the Eternal High Priest, have pity on Thy priests. Remember, O most compassionate God, that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation which is in them by the imposition of the bishop’s hands. Keep them close to Thee, lest the Enemy prevail against them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime vocation.
O Jesus, I pray Thee for Thy faithful and fervent priests; for Thy unfaithful and tepid priests; for Thy priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Thy tempted priests; for Thy lonely and desolate priests; for Thy young priests; for Thy aged priests; for Thy sick priests, for Thy dying priests; for the souls of Thy priests in Purgatory.
But above all I commend to Thee the priests dearest to
me; the priest who baptized me; the priests who absolved me from my sins; the priests at whose Masses I assisted, and who gave me Thy Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me, or helped and encouraged me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way, particularly N. O Jesus, keep them all close to Thy Heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.
IMPRIMATUR +Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison, 6 September 2018
Many priests observe the anniversary of their ordination at this time of year. It is a common time for ordinations, probably because Ember Days were common times for ordinations and Ember Days fall during the Pentecost Octave.
It is my anniversary of ordination today, 33 years ago, by St. John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica. That might make me a 2nd class relic.
When this date rolls around, I usually say to myself:
“Well… I made it this far.”
And so begins the 34th year. I’ve now been a priest longer than the earthly Jesus (depending on ancient counting practices).
On 26 May 1991, the Feast of St. Philip Neri, it was also Trinity Sunday, just like this year!
It is a wonderful synchronicity that the parish in Rome to which I am so attached, is both the place of St. Philip Neri’s great work and also in honor of the Most Holy Trinity.
It was a perfect Roman May day.
I got up that morning, ate breakfast, said my prayers, and walked alone across town to the basilica, where I entered through the main doors with the rest of the crowd. After that, however, I went to the right, to the nave near the Pietà, where we ordinands vested and waited for the Holy Father. My family members came separately from a different part of town. They had special tickets which brought them very close to the altar. St. Theresa of Calcutta was there, just in front of where my folks sat.
Since we were 60 in number, and from many countries, the basilica was absolutely jammed with people from all over the world who had come for the ordinations, probably some 50k.
You have not experienced the Litany of Saints until you have heard it sung by that many people in a space like that.
I arranged for my grandmother, a convert to Catholicism in her 80’s, to receive Communion from the Holy Father, St. John Paul.
I often wonder what happened to the other men with whom I was ordained. I only knew a few of them personally, since I had been at the Lateran University with them.
It was the first year that the Iron Curtain was raised a bit. A few men were permitted out Romania to come to Rome to be ordained by the Pope. There were some Opus Dei guys ordained with us. Another of the group was John Corapi of the SOLT group, though I didn’t know him at the time. Pray for him. One priest was ordained for the Archdiocese of Southwark in England. I know that one fellow is now a bishop in Haiti. Last February he was injured in an explosion but is recovering.
This day, especially when I review some of these videos and think about what has happened between then and now, underscores the fact that God doesn’t choose men who are worthy. He chooses those whom it pleases Him to choose.
I ask for your prayers today and in an ongoing way for my cares, my health, and my future. Pray for canceled priests.
And please, in a special way, pray for the mother of a priest, my own.
The sermon from the Mass. The sermon is in Italian and the text is HERE.
I really miss him.
Here are some excerpts from the broadcast of the ordination, which was on national television in Italy. We have the interrogation, litany and the prayer (form).
Too many people today are without good, strong preaching, to the detriment of all. Share the good stuff.
Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at your Mass of obligation for Trinity Sunday?
Tell about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass.
Also, any heresy from the pulpit today (usually in analogies about Trinity)?
Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?
A couple thoughts about the sign of the cross: HERE A taste…
[…]
The small cross is made with the thumb of the right hand on the forehead, mouth and breast while saying Christ’s own Trinitarian formula we read and heard in the Sunday Gospel. We sign our head, the principle and principal part of the body, in the name of the Father, the mouth in the name of the divine Word spoken from eternity, and the heart in the name of the Spirit as the seat of charity, sacrificial love. We say, in the “name of”, as mentioned above, for each of the Persons, not carelessly or even ostentatiously in the manner of some liberals omitting it for the Son and the Holy Ghost as well. This threefold repetition of “in the name of” reveals the distinction of the Persons and their unity.
Today the World’s Best Sacristan™ sent some video glimpses of the Solemn Mass for the patronal feast of the parish, Sunday of the Most Holy Trinity. I put them together in a brief video.
The resolution isn’t that high. It was what I was sent.
Welcome new registrant:
LeawoodTLM
In chessy news, a 12 year old Turkish boy has broken the 35 year old record of under 13 with the highest rating, which had been held by Judit Polgar (2555), the best woman player in history. Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (2645) has already earned his grandmaster norms, but titles are only officially approved every few months. These kids are terrifying. Engines have changed everything.
Nice people! Great service!
White to move and mate in 2.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
UPDATE:
I almost forgot! Here is the targa mondezzaro for 26 May 1717! This is found in the via di Sant’Eustachio, sort of an open area where there is a wall with two ancient columns visible and some spectacular “ivy” (really Virginia Creeper). If you are facing the Church of Sant’ Eustachio, you go around the the right side into the street.
SI PROIBISCE ESPRESSAMENTE A TVTTE E
SINGOLE PERSONE DI QVALSIVOGLIA STATO
E CONDITIONE DI FARE IN MONDEZZARO
NELLA PIAZZETTA AVANTI QVESTA PORTICELLA
DI SˆEVSTACHIO SOTTO PENA DI SCVDI
DIECI MONETA ET ALTRE PENE IN CONFORMITÀ
DELL’EDITTO DI MONSIGˆILLˆE RMO PRESIDENTE
DELLE STRADE PVBLICATO IL DI XXVI
MAGGIO MDCCXVII PER GLˆATTI DELLˆ
ORSINI NOTARO DEL TRIBVNALE DELLE STRADE
The granite columns were found in 1934 under the piazza in front of San Luigi dei Francesi (not too far), the French national church with the Saint Matthew paintings by Caravaggio. They are from the baths built by Nero in 62 AD and restored by Alexander Severus, and are therefore known as the Terme Neroniane Alessandrine, between the piazza in front of the Pantheon stretching to the Corso del Rinascimento along the modern Via di S. Giovanna d’Arco. The Palazzo Madama or Senate sits pretty much on top. A couple of other columns were found in 1666 and were inserted into the pronaos of the Pantheon to replace two that were missing. Also from those baths is the enormous granite basin in the V. degli Staderari, across the way from the famous coffee shop of Sant’Eustachio. It was found in 1985, weighs 25 tons and is 5.3 meters across.
Special thanks to NG and TL for making the switch to Zelle.
This is where the Romanaccio chess “club” meets. And there is a damaged targa mondezarro there, too. from 17?7.
And because I played OTB today, a bonus Rome shot.
The Bar der (= Italian del) Fico, “of the fig tree”. This fig is not to be confused with the well-known fig tree in the Via Margutta in the Campo Marzio, the Fico di Via Margutta or Fico Marguttiano. It had grown up spontaneously through the cobblestones (sampietrini = little saints Peter – get it?). A couple of plaques with poems have been dedicated to the fig and there is also a prize awarded called “Er mejo fico der bigonzo… the best fig in the bucket”, Roman phrase suggesting that the best figs have been put on the top to hide the worse ones below. Now it has to do more with the best thing or person in a group. Bigonzo comes from Latin bis (twice) and congius, an ancient measure of liquid amounting to an eighth of an amphora, about 3.5 liters, a little under a gallon. The bigoncio itself is wooden, with two sides higher with holes through which a pole could be passed for carrying.
Liquids in ancient times were often measured by weight, using either a goniometer (which now is a term for a folding ruler that measures angles) or a sextarius 1 sixth of a congius or about a pint.
And because there is a targa mondezzaro for today. 1753. The usual penalties are left to the discretion of the The Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Monsignor President of the Streets. This one is at the Largo dei Lombardi, near San Carlo al Corso (of course).
PER ORDINE ESPRESSO DI MONSIGR·ILLMO·E RMO’
PRESIDENTE DELLE STRADE SI PROIBISCE ES
PRESSAMENTE A QVALSIVOGLIA PERSONA DI
NON GETTARE IMMONDEZZE DI SORTE VERVNA
IN QVESTO SITO SOTTO LE SOLITE PENE ED
ALTRE AD ARBITRIO DI SVA SIGR· ILLMA· IN
CONFORMITA DELL’EDITTO EMANATO LI XXV
MAGGIO MDCCLIII
There should be one for tomorrow, also.
A targa a day, keeps the garbage away.
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Speaking of playing OTB, which I did this morning, here is a position I got myself into playing black.
Here we are after 32. a4. Black to move.
QUAERITUR: How did I extricate myself from this mess?
It’s black’s move, for eventual victory (at move 57).
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
Another response rolled in from a bishop whose name you would recognize.
Thanks for the invitation. Here as some thoughts.
1. Yes, I was slapped when I was confirmed – although, it was just a tap. And yes, we were quizzed. We were called on by the bishop, he did not ask for volunteers.
2. I do not slap when I do Confirmations because it is not called for in the rite (although the other auxiliary bishop in ___ when I was there did, and he wasn’t really a traditionalist – I think it was just a hang-over from former days). I do, though, sometimes talk about it in my Confirmation homily, and what it means. As for quizzing, I used to do that, in fact, did it for years. Then I realized that that was the reason my homilies were so long. The confirmandi are always shy to answer, and I would work hard to coax answers out of them. Not even questions that they know the answers to better than anyone else are they willing to answer (what school do you go to? What did you do in preparing for Confirmation?). So, for the last several years I do not quiz. I do sometimes meet with the Confirmandi before the Mass starts, and then I will ask questions.
Back to the slap: some years ago there was a proposal before the USCCB to restore it to the rite for our country. Needless to say, it failed to pass. There seems to be a lot of resistance to “change”.
UPDATE 23 May:
In light of the many comments and interest in the topic, I reached out to a few bishops with whom I have some correspondence about quizzing and slapping at confirmation. I received three responses back, though I hope for a couple more.
Here’s what I received, somewhat edited to preserve anonymity:
Bishop 1
Good to hear from you. Hope you are well in these chaotic times.
I was confirmed in the old rite – in second grade. We were slapped. The Bishop did not, to my recollection, ask us questions. We were prepared ahead of time in Catechism at the Catholic school, of course.
As a parish priest, most the times the Bishop came to the parish for Confirmation. They did ask questions during the ‘homily time.’ No slap (although I heard that auxiliary Bishop X used to use the slap).
I have confirmed in the old Rite a few times. I slapped them as called for by the rubric. In the Novus Ordo, I did not use a slap. I anoint them and afterwards say “peace be with you” and handshake.
Most all times I confirmed, I met the candidates with their sponsors before the Mass, usually in the parish hall or wherever they were getting ready. I would ask some questions. I didn’t do it during the Confirmation itself, because it had not been the local custom.
Bishop 2
By my recollection, we were quizzed at the time of the homily, but the questions were all softballs. We were not slapped, but I do remember the bishop being somewhat cranky!
In practice, I never quiz the candidates, basically for the reasons outlined in the article. It is a Mass (usually) and the conferral of a Sacrament. I prefer to use the time that I have with the candidates and their sponsors before the Mass to connect with them, and then of course, in the homily to exhort them to understand the effects of the Sacrament , and to encourage the candidates to really live their Faith. By extension, I always hope that the message is heard by all of the rest of the “Catholics.” All in all, I think it’s a great opportunity to put a good face on the Church. Attitude, eye contact, joyfulness all are important.
And the only time I have slapped is when conferring the Sacrament in the traditional form.
Bishop3
When I was confirmed in 1962, a priest was assigned to question the confirmands before the bishop conferred upon us the Sacrament of Confirmation.
In confirming us, after the anointing with the Sacred Chrism, the bishop gave us a slight blow to the cheek while saying “Peace be with you.”
I do not question the confirmands when I administer the Sacrament of Confirmation, whether according to the old rite or the new rite. Since I require that the pastor of each confirmand formally declare that the confirmand is prepared to receive the Sacrament, I do not see the need to question them further.
When confirming according to the old rite, a give a slight blow to the cheek of the confirmand, as is prescribed in the Roman Pontifical.
When confirming according to the new rite, the gesture is not prescribed and, therefore, I do not give the slight blow to the cheek. In this, I follow the discipline of not mixing elements of the two uses but, rather, respecting the integrity of each use.
I hope that the above is of some help to you.
Be assured of a daily remembrance in my prayers.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED May 20, 2024 at 16:35
I went to Fishwrap (aka National Sodomitic Reporter) to see if there were any spittle-flecked nutties about Harrison Butker. They didn’t disappoint, which is itself a disappointment.
I found an opinion piece stating that bishops should not quiz confirmands about any fundamentals of the Catholic Faith. You know, old, backward stuff like, “What is a sacrament?” and “Who are the three persons of the Trinity?”.
You laugh. Don’t. I was in a midwestern suburban parish and I was given the chore of checking on the preparation of confirmands. These were, essentially middle school and high school kids. The results were terrifying. Worse was the 1st Communion prep, which elicited a response from a boy about the Eucharist: “You mean that piece of bread thing?”
At Fishwrap, Confirmation seems to be about feeling good.
It is a liturgy, a moment in which we ask the Holy Spirit to come down and fill the hearts of the confirmands. Creating a situation which causes them to enter in with anxiety or worse undermines their ability to experience that.
Construing confirmation as a kind of culminating exam also demeans all of the prior work that the confirmands have done.
The old formula “fill the hearts of your faithful” is the from the Veni, Sancte Spiritus, which has unfathomably rich vocabulary – in Latin – when properly understood. In the antiphon and the oration the Latin word for “heart” is used twice, especially in “light” (illusratio) of the rational soul (recta sapere). We ask the the hearts (minds, intellect which under the operation of the will seeks to understand and, in knowing and understanding, seeks the more in love and be in the union of peace with the beloved) be enflamed with the Spirit, which is the Spirit of Love and of Truth (which has content).
Also, these days there is great interest in doing things the way that ancient Christians did, provided that it doesn’t involve anything “traditional”. Hence, those being prepared for sacraments have to jump through lots of hoopy stages and endure being sent out during Mass etc. Never mind that in ancient times there were exorcisms and scrutinies. Yes, they were expected to know something.
When I was brought into the Church, I was expected to know things. And I did. When I was ordained, I was expected to know things, and I was grilled by various Roman profs on many theses we had to prepare. It is reasonable to expect that we know the Faith. You can’t love what you don’t know. You can’t pass on what you don’t know either. As my old pastor used to say: Nemo dat quod non ‘got’!
When I was brought into the Church, the old pastor delayed confirming me because he thought it would be better for me to be confirmed by a bishop, in this case a former pastor of the same parish who had retired from being the first bishop of New Ulm, a lovely man, Bp. Alphonse Schladweiler. He quizzed me, a little, and slapped me too, and rightly so.
Anyway, there is a funny story about old Schlady and a confirmation during which he quizzed. At a confirmation he once said, in his booming voice, “Now children, the bishop has been asking you questions. Do you have any questions for the bishop?” Always dangerous. One lad piped up, “What’s a Monsignor?” The priest at the place was a Monsignor. Without missing a beat the old bishop said “Why, sonny, a Monsignor is the cross that hangs around the bishop’s neck!”
There’s a lot more to say about Confirmation and about Monsignors.
Were you quizzed? Were you slapped? Do you have recollections of your Confirmation?
First, at CNA there is a must read article about the thoughts of a Jesuit priest in Uruguay about the state of the Society of Jesus. Realistic about their profound decline and grim future. HERE
Next, there is a new book by Karen Hall about one particular Jesuit, the late and lamented Fr. Paul Mankowski, whom I knew. He was treated horribly by his confreres. One of their most brilliant lights, and they snuffed him out. There are a couple books about him. Here is the latest.
The Sound of Silence: The Life and Cancelling of a Heroic Jesuit Priest
Today the Season of Easter comes to an end. The cycle that started with pre-Lent Sunday’s is over.
Being an Ember Saturday, there would be a vigil in the night in preparation for ordinations to the priesthood at St. Peter’s.
Tomorrow, as a matter of fact, is the ecclesial-liturgical and secular-calendrical anniversary of my ordination at St. Peter’s, Trinity Sunday. In 1991, as today, it was Trinity Sunday and the Feast of St. Philip Neri. In Rome at my adoptive parish, Most Holy Trinity (where St. Philip was) they will bump his feast to Monday and celebrate it also with great style, as they do everything.
There are five readings before the Gospel in the Mass today, in the forma longior, the longer form. There is an option for a shorter Mass with two readings, but still with all the Pentecost Octave features, such as the Sequence and proper Communicantes and Hanc igitur. It is peculiar that at the end of the Sequence there is no Alleluia before the Gospel reading. There are various Alleluia verses amongst the lessons. I think what happened is that when the more penitential Mass formulary for the Ember Day was fused into that of the Pentecost feria of Saturday, a bit of the Alleluiatic festivity was lost.
The progression of the Collects and lessons is overwhelming if read in light of the moment (Octave of Pentecost) and ordinations.
I very much like the reading from Joel 2:
Thus says the Lord God: I will pour out My Spirit upon all mankind. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; even upon the servants and the handmaids, in those days, I will pour out My Spirit. And I will work wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke; the sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, at the coming of the Day of the Lord, the great and terrible day. Then everyone shall be rescued who calls on the name of the Lord.
Sounds like an eclipse.
And why not? The Person of our Lord is often blanked out and blackened by the unworthy men who are His priestly mediators. When you look on them, and see their faults, try to remember who is directly on the other side in blazing glory, making possible what we do in our liturgical rites.
And when a priest gets anything right… non nobis, Domine, non nobis.
The Collect.
May the Holy Spirit, we beseech You, O Lord, inflame us with that fire which our Lord Jesus Christ cast upon the earth and desired that it be fanned into flame.
I’m not going to go through all of them, but I’ll suggest the themes. Start with “heat”.
The account in Leviticus is about Shavuot and the wave-offering of the first fruits.
The account in Deuteronomy is about the first-fruits of the land of milk and honey.
The description in Daniel is of the stoking of the furnace and the 49 cubits high flames that burned the enemy but not the stokers as they sang in praise of God.
Finally, in the Gospel, Jesus rebuked and casts out an afflicting fever demon from Peter’s mother-in-law and then healed and exorcised, commanding the demons to be silent. Originally, before the fusing of the Ember Day with the Pentecost feria, the Gospel was the Matthew 20 account of the healing of blind men.
The work of the Gospel is the work of the priest against the enemy, the prince of this world.
How shocking it is to me that even bishops can be embarrassed by such things today. They should set the example in exorcising left, right and center! Why let the prince of this world run unchecked?
How I long to see bishops to set examples of solemn worship.
I long to see them perform manifestly, blatantly, even ostentatiously priestly actions in public: processions, exorcisms, lying prostrate on the steps of their cathedrals in reparation for the sinful votes and actions of Catholic politicians.
How I long to see them bishops be unabashedly, unapologetically Catholic, with every possible visual, material aid at their disposal, including glorious vestments, banners and big gaudy rings.
Turn up the heat, for the love of God and all that is holy!
But, no. They talk talk talk in their bourgeois black suits and their slim apologetic neck chains connected to the Cross … which they hide in their pockets. It’s like they are all laid out prostrate from the heat of the fever of this world’s fever swamp and they can’t get up.
They must be raised from their fever by our prayers and promptings!
What’s going on now sure isn’t working.
Big hats, raised voices, and interdicts.
It’s time to get medieval.
The SSPX recently built and consecrated a huge and unapologetically Catholic church in the middle of Nowheresville, USA. They proved they could do it. They did it because people trusted that they would do it. Now they have the proof not only that it was doable, but that they will do more. They demonstrated during COVID Theatre that they were not going to abandon people by locking up their churches.
They did something amazing, extravagant for God, to show the world that there is more, there is the transcendent. They gave people a place to encounter Mystery.
Let our bishops and priest smash their way out of their chains and then be openly, clearly, freshly, traditionally, unmistakably CATHOLIC . I know that people will BACK THEM UP when they take hits for being Catholic. Lay people will stand in front of them when they are attacked!
Enough of this, “I’m with you, win or tie!” rubbish.
Am I wrong?
The Postcommunion today:
Praebeant nobis, Dómine, divínum tua sancta fervórem: quo eórum páriter et actu delectémur et fructu.
May your Holy Sacraments supply use with divine raging passion: by which we may exalt in both their celebration and in their results.
Everything starts with proper worship, the fulfillment of the virtue of Religion.
As a Church we’ve lost a great deal of the sense of who we are because of the loss of the riches of worship.
If we don’t know who we are, can we tell someone else?
Why should anyone pay attention to us if we don’t know ourselves?
Everything we do much start in worship and then be brought back to worship.
This is the staring point for renewal and the goal in an dynamic that will end in earthly terms at the Parousia described by Joel and will continue in heaven in eternity.
Today is the anniversary of the edict of 24 May 1766 in which the Monsignore Illustrissimo e Reverendissimo Presidente delle Strade prohibited littering and dumping in the Via Borgognona. Someone caught dumping here would be fined 10 scudi and given three “tratti di corda” with perhaps other punishments.
What are “tratti di corda”? It sounds like, maybe, “lashes”. Nope. This is also known as “strappado”. They tied your hands behind your back and then suspend you by the wrists, which results in dislocated shoulders. They could add additional weight. It would last about an hour. This form of punishment is still used today as a torture.
Just between the Campo de’ Fiori and the Piazza Farnese in Rome, in other words where I walked almost every day when in Rome, there is a street called the Via della Corda.
Corda could refer to the fact that the Campo was a place where public punishments of the corda were carried out. The street was originally a “vicolo” or “alley”, but in 1925 the city changed it to “via”.
The Roman poet Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (“er Belli”) wrote about tratti di corda in one of his Roman dialect sonnets:
Prima la corda al corso era un supprizzio,
che un galantuomo che l’avessi presa
manco era bbono ppiù a sservì la chiesa,
manco a ffà er ladro e a gguadaggnà sur vizio
“Before, the corda on the pulley was punishment, that a gentlemen who had taken it lacked the ability any longer to serve the Church, couldn’t be a thief and to make money by vice.”
Consider that St. Charles Borromeo assigned tratti di corda against the excesses of “carnevale” before Lent, imposing two times for those who transgressed on religious holidays or who had worn ecclesiastical clothing as a costume.
A certain group comes to mind.
St. John Sarkander, martyr, was tortured this way because he refused to reveal the contents of a confession to a fully Protestant court. He died in agony in prison on 17 March 1620.
This… for littering… dumping.
Cities in those days were bad enough without garbage being left everywhere. Strong measures were needed. Also, in those days people were injured to discomfort and pain on a daily basis. Simple punishments would be brushed off. Hence, they used punishments that actually got people’s attention.
Life was hard.
Click!
In chessy news, I read an interview with world champ Ding Liren. He will compete at the upcoming Norway Chess, tough field. Ding said that his goals were “not to come in last” and that he had to show at least his “second-best”. Gosh. It makes me wonder if what Magnus opined about Ding might be true. Magnus wondered if Ding wasn’t “permanently broken”.
Chess is hard.
Is this hard? White to move and mate in two.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
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At NLM there is a great explanation of the Pentecost Roman Stations.
I find these historical details interesting because we find traces of ancient things in the traditional rites even today.
In any event, if I am to be believed, the Pentecost Friday Roman Station is Dodici Apostoli, Twelve Apostles, because that’s where Friday Ember Day Stations are. Believe me.
The texts of the Mass today are rather calming, as befits summery pursuits. Crops are planted. Early harvest of first fruits and grains are in. Other plantings and fruits are maturing. The days are long, warm, languid. There is always something to be done, but there is daylight for leisure.
The reading from Joel is about the harvest, and grain and wine and the gifts of God. The Antiphons and Gradual are all pretty joyful.
The Gospel is about the man whose friends lower him through the roof to get him to Jesus, who heals him. It’s a great moment in the Gospels.
Today in our Collect we have a return of the theme of “the enemy”.
Grant to Your Church, we beseech You, almighty God, that, united by the Holy Spirit, she may in no way be harmed by any assault of the enemy.
But for the most part, the overwhelming attitude of the Mass is joyful contentment with the abundant gifts of God.
Perhaps the idea of the enemy in the Collect, making a disturbance of the peace, is offset by the images of the paralytic man’s friends making a disturbance. Making a mess, but in a good sense.
Enemies tear houses apart. The man’s friends tore a hole in the roof. Both make disturbances, but with different scopes in mind and different outcomes.
The Postcommunion seems to echo what happened in the Gospel, thus tying our minds in the moment of Communion to the healing, strengthening effects of the Eucharist:
“We who have received the gift of Your Blessed Sacrament, O Lord, humbly pray that what You have taught us to do in commemoration of You, may profit and help us in our weakness.”
As I write, I have a thought of all your priests being the friends who tear a hole in the roof to get you to the Lord. The friends lowered the man. The priests bring the Lord down to you. The fabric of the roof is torn open.
The division of heaven from earth is ripped asunder and Christ is called down, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
But we have to turn this sock inside out. Even as this image takes form under my tapping fingers, it is really you lay people who are the ones who get that roof apart and get us priests to the Lord.
You do the heavy… lowering. We would be lost without you, frozen, unable to move.
Thank you for being our stretcher bearers.
Also, years ago, I made a series of PODCAzTs for the Octave of Pentecost. My technical abilities have improved a little since then, and I seem to have had a little more energy, but they aren’t bad.
So, these are from 2008… Benedict XVI was Pope.
1. Pentecost Monday: PODCAzT 56: Octaves – Fr. Z rants & Augustine on Pentecost
2. Pentecost Tuesday: PODCAzT 57: John Paul II on the unforgivable sin; Our Lady of Fatima and the vision of Hell
3. Pentecost Wednesday:PODCAzT 58: Ember Days; Chrysostom on St. Matthias; Prayer to the Holy Spirit
4. Pentecost Thursday: PODCAzT 59: Leo the Great on Pentecost fasting; Benedict XVI’s sermon for Pentecost Sunday
5. Pentecost Friday: PODCAzT 60: Pentecost customs; St. Ambrose on the dew of the Holy Spirit
6. Pentecost Saturday: PODCAzT 61: Pope Leo I on a post-Pentecost weekday; Fr. Z rambles not quite aimlessly for a while
UPDATE:
(1/2) Further on the suppression of the Octave of Pentecost in the Novus Ordo, here is a diagram of where the unique collects, secrets and postcommunions in the 1962 ended up in the 1970/2008 Missal, and how many orations were edited—note that one-third of them were deleted! https://t.co/wjMLHnVWg8pic.twitter.com/eb2IgChKQR
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Everyone, work to get this into your parish bulletins and diocesan papers.
The most evident mark of God’s anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clerics who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds.
St. John Eudes
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“Until the Lord be pleased to settle, through the instrumentality of the princes of the Church and the lawful ministers of His justice, the trouble aroused by the pride of a few and the ignorance of some others, let us with the help of God endeavor with calm and humble patience to render love for hatred, to avoid disputes with the silly, to keep to the truth and not fight with the weapons of falsehood, and to beg of God at all times that in all our thoughts and desires, in all our words and actions, He may hold the first place who calls Himself the origin of all things.”
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Books which you must have.
This REALLY helps! And it’s great coffee (and tea)
I use this when I travel both in these USA and abroad. Very useful. Fast enough for Zoom. I connect my DMR (ham radio) through it. If you use my link, they give me more data. A GREAT back up.
“He [Satan] will set up a counter-Church which will be the ape of the Church because, he the devil, is the ape of God. It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the anti-Christ that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ. In desperate need for God, whom he nevertheless refuses to adore, modern man in his loneliness and frustration will hunger more and more for membership in a community that will give him enlargement of purpose, but at the cost of losing himself in some vague collectivity.”
“Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops.”
“The modern habit of doing ceremonial things unceremoniously is no proof of humility; rather it proves the offender's inability to forget himself in the rite, and his readiness to spoil for every one else the proper pleasure of ritual.”
- C.S. Lewis
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As for Latin…
"But if, in any layman who is indeed imbued with literature, ignorance of the Latin language, which we can truly call the 'catholic' language, indicates a certain sluggishness in his love toward the Church, how much more fitting it is that each and every cleric should be adequately practiced and skilled in that language!" - Pius XI
"Let us realize that this remark of Cicero (Brutus 37, 140) can be in a certain way referred to [young lay people]: 'It is not so much a matter of distinction to know Latin as it is disgraceful not to know it.'" - St. John Paul II
Grant unto thy Church, we beseech Thee, O merciful God, that She, being gathered together by the Holy Ghost, may be in no wise troubled by attack from her foes. O God, who by sin art offended and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy people making supplication unto Thee,and turn away the scourges of Thine anger which we deserve for our sins. Almighty and Everlasting God, in whose Hand are the power and the government of every realm: look down upon and help the Christian people that the heathen nations who trust in the fierceness of their own might may be crushed by the power of thine Arm. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
This is really useful when travelling… and also when you aren’t and you need backup internet NOW! I use this for my DMR “Zednet” hotspot when I’m mobile. It’s a ham radio thing.
If you travel internationally, this is a super useful gizmo for your mobile internet data. I use one. If you get one through my link, I get data rewards.
Please use my links when shopping! I depend on your help.
27 May 2024
It is fitting to honor those who served in the armed forces and who gave their lives.
I received this note, which is an ACTION ITEM!
What are “tratti di corda”? It sounds like, maybe, “lashes”. Nope. This is also known as “strappado”. They tied your hands behind your back and then suspend you by the wrists, which results in dislocated shoulders. They could add additional weight. It would last about an hour. This form of punishment is still used today as a torture.
Anita Moore, O.P.(lay) on Memorial Day and Chaplains: “The first American chaplain to be killed in battle was Fr. Emmeran Bliemel, O.S.B., who served in the Confederate Army…”
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