Pray the Rosary on Good Friday

Imagine what might happen if every Catholic in the world would pray
a Rosary on the same day! We have an example in October of 1573,
when Europe was saved from the invasion of the mighty Turkish
fleet, by the praying of the Rosary by all Christians!

So, on Good Friday, let us all pray a Rosary for peace in the world and
the return of moral values into our communities. If possible, please
pray your Rosary between Noon and 3:00pm.

Also, please e-mail this message to every Catholic on your address list,
and ask them to pass it along to every Catholic on their lists. Let's
unite in praying one of the most powerful prayers in existence, for
these intentions, on one of the holiest days in our Church year.

SOURCE: http://www.overheardinthesacristy.net/?p=8271

Albs, Marty Haugen, Liturgical Dance

So much for a fresh and vital Church - from these things it looks as if it's stuck in the 1970's. Remember folks, the 70's died for a reason.

So, where do all three of these things occur in a hellish concoction of error? Yup, you guessed it, Bishop Clark's annual Chrism Mass. We have received information regarding what exactly went on there, so I will break it down into swallowable chunks for you:

• There was liturgical dance. An African American gentlemen wearing white pants and a white shirt flitted about the church and sanctuary of Sacred Heart Cathedral, adding to this "liturgical movement" very bizarre hand gestures which our noble informants cannot decipher.
• Bishop Clark, in his generally decent homily, started acknowledging different cultures, i.e. celebrating diversity. However, he added a new category of "culture" by saying, "Some of us are gay, some of us are straight." This was a random, unnecessary, and inappropriate statement. You don't need to do political pandering to gays when you're saying Mass. He's probably just getting excited about the next Rainbow Sash Mass.
• Sr. MaryAnn Binsack played the role of the she-monsignor, wearing her alb which complements her hair cut so nicely. Note that she stands for the consecration, just as many other of the women who like to play dress-up at Mass.
• For the Eucharistic Prayer, the whole Eucharistic Prayer, Bishop Clark was accompanied by piano. Our informant said it was like "Bishop Clark: the Musical." I was able to track down the precise setting used, and guess what? It's not chant. It's Marty Haugen's composition of the Eucharistic Prayer. Why do certain of the clergy insist on using this man's music? He's not even Catholic, but a Lutheran. I know Bach was a Lutheran, too, but he gave us the B Minor Mass - why don't we compare the two: click here for Haugen. I won't dirty this blog by embedding his rubbish. Below is a video containing highlights of the B Minor Mass. This is what Sacred Heart is capable of, what with that magnifictenly grotesque organ, the Eastman School of Music, etc. But no, we get someone playing the piano. Makes sense, doesn't it? Spend millions of dollars on the music at the cathedral, but then use a piano for the highest summit of the Mass. Yeah - no flaw in logic there.
• The only positive thing is that in the front row of the congregation was a woman with a head covering. As our informant said, maybe she will make some of the priests and deacons think twice about what they're doing.

I will be posting more details as they come in. Watch the Bach video to restore your sanity.

The Passion According to St. John

I found this beautiful gem on the website of Musica Sacra. This is a perfect example of what a continuity of reform, tempered with the richness of Tradition, really truly is. You will find the original, Gregorian chant melody, but the words are in English. It is to be sung with three people, preferably three ordained men, or at least, three liturgical ministers whose roles are legitimate and not made up for political reasons.

Click here to view this piece.

Here is a segment of the original Latin chant for the Passion, Passio Domini Nostri Iesu Christi.

Scratch a Liberal, Get a Nazi

I had a run-in recently with a priest who informed me that anyone who professes to be pro-life is, in fact, responsible for abortion. His argument was that if you vote for pro-choice politicians, you elect people who respect women, make them feel better about themselves, and make them less likely to murder their offspring. He said, "Even if Obama were born on Mars, I would have voted for him over McCain." This could turn into a post detailing how a Catholic cannot under any circumstance vote for a pro-choice candidate and remain in a state of grace. Instead, it will go somewhere else - into the deep, perverted psyche of liberals.

First of all, in this encounter, this priest interrupted me twice to make it sound as if I was condoning pro-choice politicians. He twisted my words to make them suit his political agenda. I tried to say, "The Catholic bishops have spoken precisely on the matter, and they condemn anyone who votes pro-choice." What I got out before his rude interjection was, "The Catholic bishops have spoken precisely on the matter, and they condemn anyone who votes . . . "

He thundered back, " . . . anyone who votes exclusively because of their stand on pro-choice politics." He then went on to say that no one really likes abortion - it's a necessary evil. So, let me get it straight - You're only in trouble with the Big Guy when you vote only because a person is pro-choice, ipso facto making you pro-abortion. But, in his view, "No one is pro-abortion." Note the contradiction? In his flawed reasoning, there is no room for sin because "the individual's conscience is the noblest thing involved in the abortion debate." Flawed logic all the way around, and built on rude interjections.

So, what made this priest, let's call him "Joe," react this way, shouting me down for the sake of his personal views?

It's ego.

Every single liberal, without exception, who does not permit the other side to voice its opinion (i.e. Joan Sobala, Nancy DeRycke, Barrack Obama) places more value in the "I" than the "we." A parishioner from St. Anne emailed me once with a "Me-Tally." In this tally, he counted the use of "I," "me," "my," and "mine," over 120 times in one of Joan's homilies. I think we find similar trends in the rhetoric of Prez Obama.

Note also how, when a genuine liberal is opposed, they turn vicious, playing dirty, unfair, and immorally. When parishioners confront these schismatic lay administraitors (TM), who always wins? The lay administrator. Without exception. These women claim the authority of the Church, while at the same time showing a complete rejection of this same authority. The same goes for this priest who declared, "I profess and love everything the Church teaches, and that's why I voted for Barrack Obama."

Liberals claim to be the abstract thinkers, the people who explore every alternative etc. However, they are closed minded and shallow, dealing in twisted absolutes and their own alter realities. Sure, you have to care for this unwilling mother, but not by letting her murder her child. That's ludicrous. In a similar way, liberals fail to grasp anything beside the present. "We now have health-care reform." Yes, we do, but in several years we will be crippled by debt and financial burdens.

Liberals put up this "nicey-nice" facade, but the instant you see through it and challenge their delusions, they turn, quite literally, into Nazis, imposing limitations on what you can and can't do (politically and liturgically).

Seeing as how this post in itself is a "scratch" to a liberal, I'm not going to have free commenting. They can't help themselves. For this one item, any comments you wish to make should be directed to me at cleansingfire@live.com.

See? Conservatives value free speech. We tell you when and for how long there will be a limitation. Try posting a comment at grosswirth.blogspot.com - see how far you get. So much for dialogue, eh?

Goodbye, Nancy - Hello Barb

From a friend of the blog comes this little bit of news: Barb Swiecki has been named the new "leader" of the Rush Henrietta cluster, which comprises Good Shepherd, Guardian Angels, and St. Joseph's in Rush. Mrs. DeRycke will be reassigned to another location. I fear deeply as to what this new location may be.

While Barb Swiecki is not as glaringly schismatic as Nancy DeRycke, the stark worship environment which she has cultivated at Guardian Angels is no shining trophy for either the loyal or the dissenting. However, I know several people at Guardian Angels who are firm, solid, orthodox Catholics who will do the right thing no matter how many women are vested and sitting in the sanctuary. Remember that Barb Swiecki is the pastoral administraitor (TM) who fired Fr. Peter Abas because it wasn't in their budget to pay a priest. If this kind of logic is what will rule the cluster, I tremble to think of how those parishes will end up.

If anyone reading this goes to any of these three parishes, please leave a comment and give us your perspective. Will this be better? Worse? Same? What horror stories have you witnessed or heard?

The cluster is still "uncertain" as to who the "Sacramental Minister" will be.

Every time I type "Sacramental Minister," a little piece of me dies. Can't we just call them "pastors"? Why hire a lay person and a priest, paying two full-time employees? Hire one priest, and have people of the parish do the rest. They will step forward - it's not as if we have an uncaring congregation in the diocese.

While doing some backgroung research, I stumbled across this on the website for St. Joseph's:

Beginning in 2007, our Three Parishes will work together to: •Continue those ministries described above, and look for ways to strengthen these and other ministries in which only two parishes currently collaborate. •Begin work on a joint Social Ministry Committee to study the documents and promote the Diocese of Rochester annual agenda, as well as to coordinate and facilitate social ministry programs/outreach currently offered by the three parishes. •Explore other needed social ministries. •Work toward a ministry to alienated Catholics. •Work toward greater collaboration with CYO (Catholic Youth Organization – Grades 5-12 ) programs.. •Share Pre-Cana Ministry. •Continued collaboration on Lenten Retreats beginning in 2008. •Explore ministry to Young Adults (18-35). •Make Vocation Awareness a priority.

Does anyone else notice the absolutely massive flaw here? The cluster states that they need to strengthen and maintain their "social ministries," participate more in CYO athetlics, collaborate on Lenten retreats, and "explore ministry" to young adults. Oh, and "Vocations Awareness" is a priority. Obviously not, if you list it after CYO and various other UNNECESSARY ministries. Sure, they're wonderful. But the priesthood is necessary. Maybe if these clusters put more emphasis on that, we wouldn't be in such a mess. Young men will answer the call if they're not treated like afterthoughts.

Also on their website is this projection for what, exactly, will happen in this year's assignments:

Number of Priests and Mass Schedules
2006-2010 There will continue to be 3 weekend Masses at each parish site.
2010: There will be two priests serving the three parishes.

•Before the reduction in the number of priests takes place in approximately June of 2010, all three parishes will reduce their Mass schedule to two Masses per weekend at each church site. •The times of the Masses will be determined by the pastoral planning team using consensus (Yeah . . . like that will happen) with input of all three parishes. •Daily Mass schedules will be determined in the same way at that time as well.

Anyone who has gone through a clustering process will know and agree that the debate over which Masses go and which Masses stay does two things: it serves to create a bitter and disunited congregation, and it breaks the resolve of those who fight tirelessly. By the end of this, there is too little steam left to actually push through any non-pastoral-administrator related matters. Do not waste your time bickering about Mass times - take what you get and save your strength for the coming fight, the future of your parishes.

---

Update 3/29/10 (Dr. K): Good Shepherd parishioners have contacted us with information claiming that Ms. DeRycke referred to Ms. Swiecki as the new "Pastoral Leader" and the to-be-named priests who will serve the parishes as "Assisting Priests." Her departure is their gain.

The Liturgical Police Department

Call No Man Father

Missa Cantata

There will be a Gregorian Missa Cantata on Palm Sunday at Saint Stanislaus Church at 1:30 p.m. A Missa Cantata is a sung Mass without using the full Roman ritual that would include the Asperges. The use of the organ is very limited in keeping with the solemn nature of the Lenten season.

We need to take back our Church from Sister Carol Keehan types

The Treachery of a Nun, and a New Sidebar Feature

I was reading the National Review Online, and was stung by the following, my emphasis added:

President Obama will sign the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at 11:15 A.M. EST.

You can watch it live at the White House web site.

Jake Tapper reports that the president will use 20 pens to sign the bill, and that one each will go to POTUS will Democratic Senators Reid, Durbin, Baucus, Harkin, and Dodd; along with Representatives Pelosi, Hoyer, Clyburn, Miller, Waxman, Levin, Dingell, and Rangel. Pens will also go to Vice-President Biden, H&HS Secretary Sebelius White House legislative affairs assistant Phil Schiliro, White House health policy chief Nancy-Ann DeParle, Vicki Kennedy, and Sr. Carol Keehan.

"So," thought I, "why is she getting one of these metaphorical pieces of silver?

The American Papist has the answer.

The last pen he used, reports Daniel Foster, will be given to Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association.

Sr. Keehan, as most of you know, was a staunch ally of the Democrat efforts to push through their health care reform. She issued press releases on behalf of her organization asking representatives in Congress to pass the legislation, even without including abortion funding fixes (which they did). She met with Obama personally several days before the final vote in Congress, she contacted individual congressmen and assuaged their conscience that they could vote for the bill as-is, etc.

And, so, this brings me to the new Sidebar feature. It will be on the right (as is everything else on this blog), and will be titled, "Behold The Ranks of Judas." In it will be listed those Catholics who, though they profess to be truly Catholic, aren't. I will not presume to judge their motives or their souls - that's for God. I will, however, judge their actions. Judging actions is not the same thing as judging an individual, so do not comment here or anywhere saying, "You lack charity," "Love your enemies," "Judge not lest ye be judged." I'm getting tired of these faith-based phrases being twisted by the liberals into traps for those who defend the Faith. 

I will also refrain from putting anyone on this list who may be personally offended. We all know each other well enough, so there's no need to point fingers at others and ourselves. This is for the Church Universal, not the Church Rochesterian.

Passiontide - Bach's St. Matthew Passion

As we find ourselves confronting that hideous and blessed reality of Our Lord's passion, we should begin to place ourselves into a deeper realization of what Passiontide is about.

We are but one week away from Holy Thursday, the day upon which Our Lord gave us Himself in the Blessed Sacrament, the day upon which He gave us the priesthood, and the day upon which He was betrayed by Judas, one of his chosen Apostles. Our Lord does not prevent evil from happening to us or to Him, for if He were to intervene in every matter, He would strip us of our free will, which is the source of the sweetest discovery of God. Judas was chosen by God, elevated to his position by His divine will. However, Judas betrayed God, leading Him to that bloody death on the cross, re-enacted each and every day, upon every altar. Evil can be found everywhere, for the Evil One, the Prince of Darkness, uses our human weaknesses to attack us, weaknesses that destroy us and the Church. However, evil cannot win, for just three days after its absolute triumph, Jesus rose from the dead and ransomed our souls.

Sin and corruption are here, yes, but they are fleeting. Our Lord will not permit sin and iniquity to reign in His stead and in His name.

Below is the opening of Bach's masterful St. Matthew Passion, the translation of which is below the video.

German:
Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen,
Sehet - Wen? - den Bräutigam,
Seht ihn - Wie? - als wie ein Lamm!
O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig
Am Stamm des Kreuzes geschlachtet,
Sehet, - Was? - seht die Geduld,
Allzeit erfunden geduldig,
Wiewohl du warest verachtet.
Seht - Wohin? - auf unsre Schuld;
All Sünd hast du getragen,
Sonst müßten wir verzagen.
Sehet ihn aus Lieb und Huld
Holz zum Kreuze selber tragen!
Erbarm dich unser, o Jesu !

English:
Come, ye daughters, share my mourning,
See ye ---(Faithful) whom? --- (Zion, et sim.) the bridegroom there,
See him --- how? --- just like a lamb!
O Lamb of God, unspotted
Upon the cross's branch slaughtered,
See ye, --- what? --- see him forbear,
Alway displayed in thy patience,
How greatly wast thou despiséd.
Look --- where, then? --- upon our guilt;
All sin hast thou borne for us,
Else we had lost all courage.
See how he with love and grace
Wood as cross himself now beareth!
Have mercy on us, O Jesus!

Nod of the Miter Goes to . . .

 . . . Fr. George Heyman for his review of "The Shack." This "assisting priest" has written a very to-the-point review of this novel, and also sets the record straight about noted anti-Catholic writer Dan Brown. He writes:

"It's a novel! I kept telling myself this is a novel. And it's not a very good one at that! William Young's The Shack fits into the nouveau genre of blending the religious and the fictitious in such a way that both canons of western literary tradition are equally offended in the process."

He goes on to say:

"The language is so mundane that the most challenging word in the English language in its two-hundred plus pages is the word 'expectancy.' In short, it's written at about the level of a Middle School Literature assignment."

He continues:

"Needless to say, Mack (the main character) ventures down to the shack . . . where he meets 'Papa' (who as you might expect turns out to be God, but now portrayed as a black woman stereotypically singing and baking), while Jesus is busy making furniture and Suraya (a Native American word for 'wind' - hence the Holy Spirit) turns out to be an Asian woman."

My personal opinion of this book is exceedingly low. It is not worth the paper on which it is printed. It is simple, trite, and un-challenging. At least the DaVinci Code had some blood and cassocks.

I would encourage you to read the rest of Fr. Heyman's review, found here in the Church of the Resurrection bulletin from Sunday: http://content.seekandfind.com/bulletins/06/0209/20100321.pdf

The Castration of our Clergy

The liberals who afflict the Church, pulling Her into fragments and splintering Her unity, attack many facets of Her being. She ought to be One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. Dissent wrenches one into many. Lowering the liturgy to the level of a mere performance removes the holiness of the Mass and replaces it with profanity. By turning their back on the unifying effects of Latin and Gregorian Chant, they make the Church local, not catholic, not universal. And, by incorrectly assuming that every person has a right to be a priest, they spit in the faces of God and His saints, falsely believing that intuition trumps apostolic succession.

Women will never be ordained. The matter is settled. To debate this further is as pointless as saying, "I think the sun should rise in the West, not the East." A local theologian remarked, "It is what it is." How right she was. A man is called to do one of several things: get married (to a woman) and have children, become a priest, become a lay brother, monk, or friar, become a deacon, or live a single life. Each of these things celebrates masculinity in a distinct way, each raising virtue from an ideal to an act, a perpetual "yes" to God's will. When a man discerns a call to the ordained priesthood, and perseveres in the face of potentially corrupt administrations, he has discovered the call to be Christ to others - to mimic in absolute sanctity He who chose to become Man and dwell amongst us.

This is the thing which liberals do not profess. Or, if they profess it, they don't do so publicly. Our Lord was a man. He was the first priest, the High Priest of all eternity, and remains so to this day. He called the apostles to follow Him in that same capacity on Earth. His other disciples were active in ministry in ways which the liberals tend to muddy. They preached, they evangelized the Gentiles and the Jews, they bore witness to Christ through living holy lives. They discerned their callings. The Apostles discerned theirs. The people who were not ordained as priests followed in humility those who were, i.e. the Apostles. They did not envy them, they did not demand "equal" rights.

In demanding "equality," those who advocate for women's ordination castrate our priests. It is their manhood, their masculinity, that entitles them to follow in the footsteps of Christ, leading to the altar of sacrifice. Our Lord was a man, His Apostles, the first priests and bishops, were men, and men are stilled called to be the priests of Our Lord's Holy Catholic Church. Nothing has changed in 2,000 years - the Church is timeless. Political agendas aren't. These dissenting notions are all we see right now, but compared to the eternity of God, that everlasting Truth which gave us the Truth of the Church, these error-ridden nuisances will be as so many mosquitoes that plague us for a season, then die off.

A man is called to the priesthood by God. This is a genuine vocation. A woman is called to minister in her own unique ways, including motherhood, married life, religious life, and single life. Each is imperative for the success and well-being of the Church. It is when certain erring women try to change this that problems arise. They undoubtedly love the Church in their own way. However, love can easily turn into poison when motives turn from rendering praise and honor to God to rendering praise and honor to His creation, i.e. men and women. If we were to hold up solid examples of the priesthood and religious life, and point to them saying, "This is what it means to be a priest, to be a nun, to be a religious sister or brother," then we would not be in the mess that we find ourselves in. When purposes and vocations are blurred by the heresy of relativism, there seems to be no need for an all-male priesthood. "Anybody can read from the Sacramentary."

However, not just "anyone" can consecrate bread and wine into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. This is the job of a man and a man alone. By having women taking the place of Jesus, we are not only castrating our priests, but the High Priest Himself, Jesus Christ. What a crime it is to say to God, "I am what I am, and you are not what you are." He is who is. "I am who am." Who are we to put restrictions on God, putting Him into our convenient little boxes of political bickering? We are no one. We don't deserve what He has done for us. It is for this reason that we praise Him. He has ransomed us with His blood, shed upon the cross on Calvary.

I shutter to think of the damage that has been done by priests who succumb to the numbness of liberal ideology. Priests are special. They have authority from God. This authority cannot be trumped by a lay administrator. It is impossible. To permit our priests to be shackled by such an oppressive, backwards system is something which, I pray, will not be held against us. For we are powerless to affect change ourselves - we need the Holy Spirit. When He gives us the strength, the grace, the fortitude to address these things (perhaps under the form of a new bishop), He will have spoken, and spoken plainly. The only people who will be held accountable for their sins are the transgressors themselves. I am not making a judgment against them or their souls - I am not God, and I'm not on that side of the confessional screen. I am merely stating that unrepentant sin does not go unpunished.

We must pray, dear friends, that our clergy finds their masculinity something to be valued, something linking them in a tangible way to Our Lord. Let us pray, also, that our bishops and higher leadership discover the wealth of Tradition found in the true nature of the Sacraments. Priesthood is a manly business. It is not for the weak or timid of heart, nor is it for those who cannot bear their own sufferings, let alone the sufferings of their flock. A priest must beat off the wolves that attack the sheep of his parish, defending the Church, not compromising it.

The priest pictured here (and in dozens of other places across the internet) is standing boldly in the face of enemy sniper fire. The wounded, dying soldier is clinging to his cassock, drawing near to the priest, Christ's ambassador to the suffering. As this wounded man clings to the priest's cassock, let us cling to our noble priests, our priests who stand erect under fire, who are refuges for the exiled and shelters for the wounded. Let us cling likewise to the Blessed Sacrament, present and yet unadored in our tabernacles.

God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission; I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I have a part in a great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.
—Cardinal John Henry Newman

Sacerdotal Duties

It alarms me that there are in the Church several bishops and priests who see no value in the Church as it is, nor in Her Sacraments as they were ordained to be. They constantly seek to refresh Her, adding "fun and exciting" new twists to Her ministry, and interesting new interpretations on the Sacraments.

A priest's duty is to defend the Sacraments, not to re-invent them. How any ordained man can willingly turn from the revealed paths of holiness, and embrace shadowy phantoms of Truth escapes me. A priest is called to be "alter Christi," the other Christ. How can a priest, no matter his zeal, his love for God, or anything else, say, "nah, I think I can divine my own view of the Church and Her Sacraments"?

St. John Chrysostom once wrote, "For he who does not desire to be exhibited in possession of this authority (i.e. priesthood), does not fear to be deposed from it, and not fearing this will be able to do everything with the freedom which becomes Christian men." 

I do not write this to condemn priests, but rather, to ask that our priests realize that, although they owe the bishop their allegiance, there is a higher allegiance - to God, and to His vicar on Earth, the pope, the bishop of bishops. A bishop of a diocese has authority there - this is not up for discussion. However, if he alters the Church against the will of the Holy Father, this is serious.

Our Lord did not descend to Earth and permit his followers leeway in their beliefs. He made it perfectly clear that all of Creation deals in absolutes: good and evil, light and darkness, valid and invalid. This applies to the sacraments of the Church just as it applies to anything else, and a priest has the duty to defend the sacraments' integrity. If people begin to lose faith in the True Presence, the priest must step forth and give the Church's clear teaching. If people begin to think that communal penance takes the place of individual confession, the priest must reinforce that one must go to confession - these services do not forgive sins sacramentally. If people begin to think that the anointing of the sick is something trivial, to be given for a sniffle or runny nose, the priest must explain the sacrament's true reason for being.

There is no room for doubt in the ranks of the clergy. It's as simple as loving Christ by loving His Church. To insist on an altered form of the sacraments is akin to saying "Hey, honey, I love you so much - but you really need a nose job." The Church's sacraments are timeless and perfect. Passing trends and fads have no place in their rituals.

Pray for our priests. We have so many good ones, and we need so many more. Pray for our seminarians, too, that they be filled with a zeal for the Church as it is, as Christ made it - not as men have polluted it.

The Faithful (?) Remnant

In the comment box for Dr. K's piece on parish attendance at SA, OLOL, SM Downtown, and GS, Bernie mentioned that for as many people that have left, at least doubly so have stayed. Why? In my most humble opinion, those who stay in parishes whose liturgical prowess, not to mention theological basis in reality, fall into the following categories:

1. The Ideological Crusaders - These are the people who try to work from within to kill the beast. These people usually have a love for all things genuinely sacred, a distaste for heresy and dissent, and an underpinning sense of fear. Those whom I know who have stayed in parishes such as St. Anne have only done so because they "are on the music committee," or maybe "the liturgy committee." Whatever the committee, they stay to undo do, or at least, oppose, those evils which have made themselves manifest. However, under this genuine desire to serve the parish that once was, they fear what the parish is. In their minds, the St. Anne (or Good Shepherd, or Our Lady of Lourdes) of the past is not dead, but in hibernation - all they need to do is prevent the hunter from shooting the poor beast in its sleep. Well, perhaps it's true that a parish can revive from adversity - just look at Our Lady of Victory before the refugees. However, there is a difference between shifting demographics and a purposeful scattering of the flock. If a lamb meanders away on its own accord, it can be readily led to rejoin the others. However, if a wolf drives a lamb away, bloodying it and battering it, it is improbable that the lamb should rejoin those in the pasture - it has borne too much injury, and suffered too much pain to go back. Those who fled the parishes made a choice akin to that of leaving the room of a dying parent for one last time. Upon leaving that parish, you will never know it as it once was known. "The old things have passed away," and it is not the working of the Holy Spirit.
2. The Ignorant - These are those poor souls who have never been catechized properly, never been educated by a true lover of the faith, never been exposed to the true beauty of the liturgy. For these people, "Church" is "church." The parish is the faith, as opposed to an instrument of that faith, through which its universality is displayed. These people cling to a parish, no matter what, because they love it. No doubt rests in my mind as to the love people have for their home parish. However, there comes a point when one must make a break from the parish, if it becomes a hotbed of sin and dissent. A child will always, in some way, love her mother. However, if the mother becomes a drug addict, selling her body for money enough for the next snort of cocaine, conscious only between binges of drugs and alcohol, the child must leave that parent and seek refuge elsewhere. There is love for the mother, of course. However, the temporal needs of the child outweigh the love for the self-destructing parent. Rehab is an option, yes. But a child never stays with the parent if her welfare is endangered. So too must the faithful flee from dissent - yes, you will always love your spiritual mother, your parish, but at what cost? Would you rather lose your soul for clinging to error and those professing it, than you would experience a "white martyrdom," voluntarily leaving your parish for the sake of Truth?
3. The Bitter - These are the people who let anger and pain get in the way of practicing Catholic virtues. The Bitter stay at a parish to be a thorn in the side of the administrator - not to rectify a problem, but to agitate and aggravate the problem's creator. This is not right, not at all. One must always have love for one's enemy - as we have love for those whom we discuss here. However, the moment hate enters into the picture, one must flee. This is the doing of Satan, who uses the free will of weak and erring humanity to enter into the Church. I have no doubt that Nancy DeRycke, Joan Sobala, Anne-Marie Brogan are good and loving people. However, through their actions, a demeanor enters the Church, a demeanor which is most definitively not from God. The Bitter are no different - they have a love for the Church, but they let this love turn into a jihad, if you will. It turns from love, to pain, to anger, to aggression.
4. The Opportunists - These are those individuals who enjoy putting on a show. I cannot begin to recount the stories of dozens of individuals, each one focusing around someone who would put up a strong front of orthodoxy, only to swoop in for titles and privilege once the faithful had left. A reader sent an email to us about something along these lines at St. Anne. A woman on the parish council was "grievously wounded" at what Sr. Joan had started doing at Mass. She had resolved to resign her chair on the parish council but, not for the sake of joining another church. No, she intended to convert to the Episcopalian parish on nearby Highland Avenue (which, you will note, is holding ecumenical Lenten services with OLOL). However, once several seats were vacated in several committees, she suddenly had a conversion, and swooped in to save the ailing parish. By the time all was done, she had more titles and duties after the debacle than she had before. This is heinous in its duplicity. This is not loving the Church at all - it is using it to flaunt one's abilities, one's talents, one's name and reputation. "Oh, look, Mr. _______ is on the music committee, the liturgy committee, the finance committee, and the RCIA team. He must be really into the Church." Oh, no, dear friends. The opposite is true. Those who stay at these failing parishes only for the sake of gaining something are more concerned with "self," not the Church.

I can state, with absolute certainty, that losing my parish of 30 years was the most painful thing I have ever experienced. It wiped me out emotionally, spiritually, physically, and mentally. For several months, my soul wept as it has never wept before. Not for family, not for pets, not for national disasters. No death was as bitter and all-consuming as was the death of my beloved parish. However, if it had not been for this bloody exile, this personal Via Dolorosa, I would never have discovered the unsurpassed beauty of the Traditional Latin Mass, the depth of the faith I had never truly experienced, the transcendence of a Novus Ordo Mass celebrated correctly, without political bias, done right. In losing my soul, I gained it back. Indeed, looking back on those years, I can clearly see the hand of God through it all. Without these things, I would be one of the God-loving apathetic lambs in the congregation. I wouldn't be motivated to assist those in similar situations, I wouldn't be motivated to write to Rome or the nuncio. I wouldn't be motivated to put myself to the spiritual grindstone, as it were. I would be absolutely complacent. A lover of God, yes, and a lover of the Church, but not a defender.

If you, dear reader, are an exile, you will know what I have relayed. You will have wept, you will have suffered. You will also have discovered yourself. If you are one of the faithful who have held on, continuing the good-fight, well aware of the implications, please consider making a break. Do not lose your soul defending a building. Gain radiance of soul by defending the Church.

If you are an opportunist, or a scatterer of sheep, may God have mercy on your soul. You will be in my prayers, and in the prayers of all who read this blog. But never presume that you, dear friend, are worthy to receive God's mercy. Love Him, not yourself. Love the Church, not your self-appointed self-importance. Find the glory of God in the Tradition of His Church, not in the folds of your lay preacher's alb.

Story in New Liturgical Movement

There is a story over at New Liturgical Movement about a parish in the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota that has fully instituted the "ad orientem" for the celebration of Holy Mass. This is wonderful news. What I found interesting is that the Bishop of the diocese - Bishop Paul J. Swain, is a native of Newark, NY. Newark is within the diocese of Rochester. Something good as come out of the DoR.
http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/#6444803498160824804

http://www.sfcatholic.org/info/bishopswain.aspx

Drive the snakes out! 03-17

Socializing With Socialism

Oh, How Exotic

The following was a discourse between a local Latin professor and his class, as emailed to us by a youthful friend of the blog.

"Culpa. That word means . . . anyone?"
"Cup?"
"No, it actually means 'fault.' As in, 'mea culpa.' Does anyone know where that phrase comes from? 'Mea culpa?' It could be used as meaning 'my bad.'"

(Silence)

"It comes from the old Mass, before the changes in the sixties. The servers would say, 'mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.' Culpa is in the ablative form, so it means, 'through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.' And when they would say those words, the faithful were encouraged to strike their breast, to show a sort of olde-fashioned lamentation. Oh, we used to have a fun Mass - priests swinging incense around, chanting the prayers of the day. Oh, how exotic! I'll have to dig out my old missal. It goes from 1950 to well into the seventies. No one could have envisioned something called 'Vatican II,' so they went on writing books and missals with the old ways until things came to a crashing halt."

(Silence)

"So it doesn't mean 'cup?'"

So, what's more exotic than Mr. Warfield's liturgical dancing? Gregorian chant. That's what.

Si Iniquitates

The following is from the MusicaSacra YouTube channel.

Straight From the Pope's Mouth

I’m not a man who constantly thinks up jokes. But I think it’s very important to be able to see the funny side of life and its joyful dimension and not to take everything too tragically. I’d also say it’s necessary for my ministry. A writer once said that angels can fly because they don’t take themselves too seriously. Maybe we could also fly a bit if we didn’t think we were so important.

This is why you will see the occasional dose of Catholic "snarkiness" here. We have yet to hear from anyone whose soul wept upon seeing this blog. Until that day, I am what I am and it is what it is.

Remember - we mustn't take ourselves too seriously. The Church, yes, take that seriously. Ourselves and those among us - that we can enjoy, so long as we do not lose any souls. In addition to the "you made my soul bleed" email, I'm also waiting for a "You made me convert to Catholicism" email. Anyone care to oblige?

I Was Told By a Nun That Orthodoxy Was Dead

Here's the proof.

Sorry, Sister. Looks like you're wrong. Something tells me that the numbers of solid seminarians and genuine lovers of the Holy Mother Church vastly outnumber the supporters of the Women's Ordination Conference and its related entities of dissent.

I chose to share this photo, not only to make that point, but to illustrate the nobility and the genuineness of the men entering seminaries world-wide. If you look at the photo, all the men are vested similarly except one, who is a Carmelite. The others are members of the FSSP. You should note, also, how this man, who has a vow of poverty, does not own one of the chant books the others are using, sitting humbly, hands folded in contemplation. However, in a true spirit of Christian charity, and a fraternal charity at that, one of the young men of the FSSP is holding open the book for the young Carmelite.

That is Church, ladies and gentlemen. Not these prancing fools who besiege our sanctuaries, swaying and braying like the arrogant, self-absorbed children-of-God that they are. (May God bless them.) If we had this kind of spirit here in Rochester, I can say without a doubt, "problem solved."

I know that it's been said and quoted to the point of nausea, but here it is: "Preach the Gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words." This is what St. Francis meant.

More Deceit and Coverup from CCHD

Update on Sacred Music Colloquium XX

When I posted last week about the Sacred Music Colloquium, I was planning on doing a lot of smiling and nodding, not really knowing anyone there, but knowing that we're all basking in the radiance of the true spirit of Vatican II. Remember, "principum locum."

From Sacrosanctum Concilium:

36. 1. Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites.
2. But since the use of the mother tongue, whether in the Mass, the administration of the sacraments, or other parts of the liturgy, frequently may be of great advantage to the people, the limits of its employment may be extended. This will apply in the first place to the readings and directives, and to some of the prayers and chants, according to the regulations on this matter to be laid down separately in subsequent chapters.
3. These norms being observed, it is for the competent territorial ecclesiastical authority mentioned in Art. 22, 2, to decide whether, and to what extent, the vernacular language is to be used; their decrees are to be approved, that is, confirmed, by the Apostolic See. And, whenever it seems to be called for, this authority is to consult with bishops of neighboring regions which have the same language.
4. Translations from the Latin text into the mother tongue intended for use in the liturgy must be approved by the competent territorial ecclesiastical authority mentioned above.

 Note that this document of Vatican II, dealing with the liturgy, verified by myriads of bishops and cardinals, let alone the pope, uses the phrases, "some of the prayers and chants" and "whether, an to what extent." This is not the Vatican saying, "We need people music." No, it is saying that we must open up the gift of sacred music in the mother tongue, Latin, to everyone. We weren't supposed to dive into folk songs and guitars, but rather, educate ourselves and others about what the chant really means.

And this is why I was so excited to go to the Colloquium - it's a group of 250 musicians who have the right idea.

However, I'm even more excited now because two of our dearest contributors to this blog are joining me in this quest to rediscover the Novus Ordo, done right. Aside from a handful of priests whom we all know and love, I think we can all agree that the Mass we have no in many churches is not what was envisioned by the Council. Choir Loft and Sr. Emily will be joining me for the trip, from June 21 through June 27. Oh, we're a rowdy bunch. Watch out Pittsburgh - here comes trouble.

Pope Benedict to Beatify Cardinal Newman

This is the official press release from England -

PRESS RELEASE
16 MARCH 2010, 12 noon

BEATIFICATION OF CARDINAL NEWMAN
BY POPE BENEDICT XVI CONFIRMED

The Fathers and many friends of the English Oratories are delighted by the official announcement that our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will beatify our founder, the Venerable John Henry Newman, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham during his visit to Britain in September. Newman made his home in the Archdiocese for all his adult life, first in Oxford, where he lived as an Anglican and was received into the Catholic Church, and later in Birmingham itself where he founded and worked in the Birmingham Oratory for over forty years.

The Holy Father's life-long devotion to Newman has made a profound contribution to understanding the depth and significance of our founder's legacy. His decision to beatify Newman in person confers a unique blessing upon the English Oratories and all who have drawn inspiration from Newman's life and work.

We joyfully look forward to welcoming the Holy Father, as well as the many pilgrims and visitors who will come to the Beatification ceremony and visit Newman's shrine at the Birmingham Oratory.

We also look forward to the challenging work of preparing for the Beatification in conjunction with Church and civil authorities. We pray that the Beatification will fittingly reflect both Newman's significance for the Universal Church and the honour paid to our Archdiocese and our country by the Holy Father's presence among us.

Very Rev. Richard Duffield
Provost of the Birmingham Oratory
and Actor of the Cause of John Henry Newman

This great man's biography can be found at this link, and is definitely worth a read.

Cardinal Newman's writings have been cataloged at http://www.newmanreader.org/ I put the introduction of "Sermon 20" below for your perusal.

SHEEP are defenceless, wolves are strong and fierce. How prompt, how frightful, how resistless, how decisive, would be the attack of a troop of wolves on a few straggling sheep which fell in with them! and how lively, then, is the image which our Lord uses to express the treatment which His followers were to receive from the world! He Himself was the great Exemplar of all such sufferings. When He was in the hands of His enemies, surrounded by a mad multitude, gazed on by relentless enemies, jeered at, struck, hurried along, tormented by rude soldiers, and at length nailed to the cross, what was He emphatically but a sheep among wolves? "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth." And what He foretold of His followers, that the Psalmist had declared of them at an earlier time, and His Apostle {294} applies it to them on its fulfilment. "As it is written," says St. Paul, "For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." [Rom. viii. 36.] Such was the Church of Christ in its beginnings, and such has it been in every age in proportion to its purity. The purer it has been, the more defenceless; whenever it has been pure, it has, in one way or another, been defenceless. The less worldly it has been, and the more it has cultivated its proper gifts, and the less it has relied upon sword and bow, chariots and horses, and arm of man, the more it has been exposed to ill-usage; the more it has invited oppression, the more it has irritated the proud and powerful. This, I say, is exemplified in every age. Seasons of peace, indeed, have been vouchsafed to it from the first, and in the most fearful times; but not an age of peace. A reign of temporal peace it can hardly enjoy, except under the reign of corruption, and in an age of faithlessness. Peace and rest are future.

Massive Trust Fund to go to St. Thomas the Apostle

For most people, "God will provide" is a pleasant platitude hurled forth from lay-occupied pulpits. However, for the people of St. Thomas the Apostle church in Irondequoit, it is an absolute truth. I have received a few emails (all within a couple hours of each other) brimming with the joyous news. I post the email below in its entirety - my commentary added.

 

1.    Fr. Tanck stated that  STA has been contacted by attorneys representing a large trust fund in New Jersey. Fr Tanck has been informed that STA will be one of the recipients of a large amount of money from the trust fund.  Apparently, the family of this trust attended STA in the 1950s.  They had two handicapped children that attended STA school.  Both children have now passed away and the trust is being dissolved.  From what I understood of Fr. Tanck's comments, STA parish will receive $100,000 to $200,000 (closer to $200,000) from the trust!  The attorneys were inquiring whether in fact STA parish was an existing entity!  The bishop, the presbyter council, stewardship council, and the entire parish should be made aware of this new development asap.  These funds would clearly put STA in the strongest financial position of all Irondequoit parishes and should be considered by the bishop. (If St. Thomas the Apostle does, in fact, receive this money, how could anyone in their right mind consider closing the parish? To give this money, along with the Msgr. Burns fund, to the "new parish" to be created upon the closuer of STA, would be absolutely corrupt. To rob the people of STA of this $700,000 is to show an agenda, not an unfortunate series of events.)

2.  I was able to see a copy of the IPPG financial report presented by _______ to the IPPG.  It was shocking to see that $1.7 million dollars has been slated for upgrades to the three surviving parish campuses.  Listed in the report is $500,000 for expansion of the CTK parking lot, $200,000 for the expansion of the SC parking lot, $50,000 for the removal of the SC rectory.  (Why spend millions of dollars to add/change the campuses of other parishes, especially when St. Thomas already has ample parking, facilities, and income?) Also listed were funds for a new parish meeting center at SMM since they have no meeting space! The total expenditures for these three campuses amounted to over $1.7 million!   _______ sent the report to the Bishop but is interested in getting it to the presbyter council members too.  I don't believe that this information was ever shared by the IPPG.  I don't see the finance committee report published on the IPPG website. (It's because they don't like seeing their plans threatened, in my humble opinion. Either this or they don't have enough time to divulge the truth.)

3. Fr. Tanck stated that the bishop has called an "emergency" joint meeting of the presbyter and stewardship councils for March 15th. He does not know what the meeting is about but he did say it is very unusual to have such a meeting. He went on to say that it would not be about Irondequoit although he readily admitted he had no idea what the meeting was about. He promised to share the agenda with J__ once he receives it. This may mean that the decision about STA could be pushed off to the April meeting of the presbyter council. In any case, this is an interesting development.....does it have something to do with item #1? (I would bet money on it.)

4. Fr. Tanck stated that he recently attended a meeting with the bishop whereby it was announced that new by-laws for parish corporations have been developed by the DOR.  Fr. Tanck promised J__that he would share the new by-laws document with her via electronic file.  He really didn't share with the council what the changes were in the new by-laws but it would be interesting to see what is going on here and how it may relate to STA's situation. (One hopes these new by-laws actually serve to help parishes, not make it easier to strip them of finances for the sake of other parishes.)

Can you imagine the implications of a new $200,000 for this parish? It certainly puts a crimp in the plans of the IPPG.

In These Sentiments, He Died

There are those whom I know who doubt the efficacy of Eucharistic Adoration. I can state, through personal experience and various experiences of others, that there is a true hidden majesty at work whenever one is in the presence of Our Lord - whether one is aware of this presence or not.

The following is taken from the parish website of St. Francis Xavier in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I certainly hope you all know of the battle fought there from 1 July to 3 July, 1863 - I hope to post more about it (and its Catholic-interest stories) when I pass through the town on my way to the Pontifical Mass in Washington in April. You would be surprised at how many notably Catholic things occurred there, and in the towns between there and our nation's capital.

St. Francis Xavier Church played a very important role during the Civil War as a hospital following the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. The most seriously wounded, numbering between 200-250, were brought and nursed by the Sisters of Charity. One of the sisters wrote, "They lay on the pew seats, under the pews, in every aisle, and there was scarcely room to pass among them in the sanctuary and in the gallery . . . . The Station pictures hung around the walls, and a very large oil painting of St. Francis Xavier, holding in his hand a crucifix to show the benighted pagans the sign of their Redemption. This was a Book read by our poor men, for we had in that Church but one Catholic, and our glorious saint was for the time resuming his apostolical mission among them. The first man put in the sanctuary was soon baptized, and with truly Christian sentiments. His pain was excruciating and when sympathy was offered to him he said, ‘Oh! What are these pains I suffer in comparison with those my Redeemer suffered for me.’ In these sentiments he died."

Popule Meus by Victoria

This is one of the piece the choir is doing at the Tridentine Mass on Sunday.



Popule meus, quid feci tibi?
Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.
Hagios o Theos. Sanctus Deus.
Hagios Ischyros. Sanctus Fortis.
Hagios Athanatos, eleison imas.
Sanctus et Immortalis, miserere nobis.

Priests Should Be "Men Not Subject to Ephemeral Cultural Fashions"

So declared Pope Benedict XVI today at his noonday address. There has been a tone here lately among some commenters that we should give up - "the pope doesn't care about us, and he can't or won't do anything." This address should illustrate that the pope knows absolutely and precisely what is occurring in our diocese and other like it. My emphasis added.

VATICAN CITY, 12 MAR 2010 (VIS) - At midday today, the Holy Father received participants in a theological congress promoted by the Congregation for the Clergy, and which is being held on 11 and 12 March in the Pontifical Lateran University on the theme: "Faithfulness of Christ, faithfulness of Priests". (Note the Holy Father's clear parallel - a priest  is not just "one of the guys." He is the "alter Christi.")

In a time such as our own, said the Pope, "it is important clearly to bear in mind the theological specificity of ordained ministry, in order not to surrender to the temptation of reducing it to predominant cultural models. ("Predominant cultural models." This means that we should always hold priests as priests, not these "sacramental ministers" heralded by the Diocese of Rochester. To have lay people running the Church in a time of prosperity, not persecution, is unnatural and ungodly.) In the context of widespread secularisation which progressively tends to exclude God from the public sphere and from the shared social conscience, the priest often appears 'removed' from common sense". Yet , the Pope went on, "it is important to avoid a dangerous reductionism which, over recent decades ... has presented the priest almost as a 'social worker', with the risk of betraying the very Priesthood of Christ. (This risk of "betraying the very Priesthood of Christ" is fully realized in Rochester. We see this in these numerous lay people, men and women, who claim to be leading a parish over a priest. Handle the business, and stay out of the sanctuary - that is what these lay administrators are called to do. They are not called by God to relegate the priest to a chair to pop up and say prayers on command.)

"Just as the hermeneutic of continuity is revealing itself to be ever more important for an adequate understanding of the texts of Vatican Council II", he added, "in the same way we see the need for a hermeneutic we could describe as 'of priestly continuity', one which, starting from Jesus of Nazareth, Lord and Christ, and over the two thousand years of history, greatness, sanctity, culture and piety which the Priesthood has given the world, comes down to our own day".

Benedict XVI affirmed that "it is particularly important that the call to participate in the one Priesthood of Christ in ordained Ministry should flower from the 'charism of prophecy'. There is great need for priests who speak of God to the world and who present the world to God; men not subject to ephemeral cultural fashions, (Priests are not supposed to be these counter-cultural rebels that we see here in many parishes. They are called, not to enforce a new social order, but to lead souls to God. How can one do this by playing fast and loose with the very teachings God gave His Church through Scripture and Tradition?) but capable of authentically living the freedom that only the certainty of belonging to God can give. ... And the prophecy most necessary today is that of faithfulness" which "leads us to live our priesthood in complete adherence to Christ and the Church". (Complete adherence, folks. Not "I feel called to do _____, even though there is no provision for it in Canon Law or Scripture, or Tradition." No - you follow the Church (which, through the Holy Spirit, follows God). You cannot let yourself be swayed by such notions as self-importance. These come from Satan, who seeks the ruin of souls. Surely countless souls have been dashed on the jagged rocks on the coast that is "Rochester.")

Priests, the Holy Father continued, "must be careful to distance themselves from the predominant mentality which tends to associate the value of Ministry not with its being, but with its function". (A priest is more than a Sacramental Minister. The pope has said it - why can't Bishop Clark?)

Sacred Music Colloquium XX - Pittsburgh, PA

I have the privilege to attend the twentieth Sacred Music Colloquium, hosted by the people of the CMAA. This year, it will be in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, more specifically, the Church of the Epiphany and the University of Duquesne. I'm still debating how I'm actually getting down there, but that's another matter.

This year's Colloquium promises to be absolutely stellar, what with the repertoire including Schubert's Mass in G, Byrd's Gradualia, and tons and tons of pieces by Palestrina, Tallis, Brahms, Bach, Mozart, and more. More information can be found  by clicking the link above.

I strongly encourage you to join me. The teachers will be world-class chant experts, who combine a love for the Magisterium with a love for Sacred Music, following the will of the Second Vatican Council which clearly stated that Latin, more precisely Gregorian Chant, has "principum locum" in the liturgy. This has been translated by several "scholars" to mean, "pride of place," sort of like how Uncle Olaf has a pride of place sitting at the end of the table, head resting in a puddle of drool. No, "principum locum" means "the first place," "the primary place."

If we can infuse our parishes, bit by bit, with a love for the sacred, a love for chant and sacred polyphony, you can be certain that we will see people returning to Mass. The music of the liturgy, the true music of the liturgy, is absolutely transcendent - it is something other worldly. Why go to Mass regularly or at all when you get the same folky and hippie tripe Sunday after Sunday? With chant and sacred polyphony, there is an inexhaustible store of musical treasures just waiting to be unearthed from the rubble of the past few decades.

Please, I know it's an investment, but do consider attending. The Colloquium will last for about seven days - seven days of reverent Masses, perfect music, people of like mind and like action, and a genuine love for all things Catholic.

While Shopping, Reality Reared its Head

I was browsing the website of Aquinas and More, and I noticed a clear trend. Whenever you click on a specific category, you see to the right of the page a list of the top selling items in that particular category. When one clicks "Vestments - Clergy Apparel," the following is visible:

Best Sellers In
Vestments - Clergy Apparel (30 Day List)

MDS Long Sleeve Tab Collar Clergy Shirt

Altar Server Gloves - Small

Abbey Brand Altar Server Roman Cassock Black

Murphy Short Sleeve Clergy Shirt

Clericool III Neckband Collar

Abbey Brand Adult Server and Priest Cassock

Abbey Brand Square Yoke Surplice

So, from this, I am led to the conclusion that we have clergy who are 1. buying clerical shirts, so that when they are in public, they may actually appear priestly. God forbid. 2. we have altar boys who will be vested in cassocks and surplices (as well as priests). Evidently, this can't be true, seeing as how Sr. Sobala declared that "only priests can wear cassocks." Ah, yes, that makes perfect sense, especially when you consider that for each cassock listed as a "best seller," one sees "server" in the description.


Better still, along with the cassocks, the surplices, and the clerical shirts, clerical collars are a "top-selling" item. Still more evidence of how twisted Rochester is - when was the last time you saw a priest grocery shopping in a collar? I'd go with 1958, personally.

"On Holy Mass"

The following is taken from the spiritual writings of St. Claude de la Colombière.

God is more honored by a single Mass than He could be by all actions of angels and men together, however fervent and heroic they might be. Yet few hear Mass with the intention of giving God this sublime honor! How few think with joy on the glory a Mass gives to God. How few rejoice to possess the means of honoring Him as He deserves! How seldom do we thank Jesus Christ that, in doing away with all other sacrifices, He has left us a sacrifice that cannot fail to be pleasing to God, a thank-offering proportionate to the benefits we have received from Him, a victim capable of effacing the sins of the world. 

If we only knew the treasure we hold in our hands! Happy a thousand times those who know how to profit by the Mass! In this adorable Sacrifice they can find all things: graces, riches spiritual and temporal, favors for body and mind for life and eternity.

Yet how often we must confess that we do not even think of using the treasure we possess, we do not even try to grasp it. What value do we set upon holy Mass? With what intentions do we assist at it? How do we hear it? Some come from custom and human respect, and something even from less worthy motives. At Mass they are occupied with useless thoughts; they amuse themselves with looking at the decorations of the church or at the people; they talk and even yawn, not knowing how to occupy themselves. 

Have you never received any favors from God, and have you thanked Him for them? Take care lest through lack of gratitude you prevent God from showering His blessings upon you. It is a strange thing that we who are surrounded and loaded with God's blessings, we whom God has loved, preserved, and cherished from the first moment of our life until now, have never even thanked Him as we ought.

This we can do in holy Mass!

Laetare Sunday - Tridentine High Mass

Again this Sunday, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be celebrated in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite at beautiful Saint Stanislaus Church. Mass is at 1:30 and the church is on the corner of Hudson Avenue and Norton Street.

Everyone is very welcomed to attend. That includes the whole family: Moms, Dads, kids, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, half-brothers and half-sisters (no matter how many times removed), etc.

Only Catholics, who are spiritually prepared, may receive Holy Communion. Holy Communion is received only on the tongue and kneeling, unless you can't kneel. No need to say "Amen".

We have handicapped elevator in the rear of the church, security guards, separate bathroom access, and a most excellent selection of books at the book table.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, leave them in the combox and I will respond asap.

Oremus pro invicem!

PS. Turn your clocks ahead one hour early this Sunday morning.

Some Hidden Insight from Tacitus

While I tend to shy away from anything pagan (sorry I keep missing your homilies, Ms. DeRycke) I do see the value in quoting a famous Roman, Tacitus. Although he was pagan, his writings are often very sharp-witted, and speak to the same truths which spoke to his audiences in the first century AD.

One such quote is as follows: "Et quibus inimicus de erat per amicis oppressi." Translated into English, it stands, "And those for whom an enemy was lacking, they were crushed by their friends."

What does this mean for us? Well, it has to do with the upcoming convocation for priests and administraitors (tm). Many, many priests with whom I have spoken, even the more dissident and disloyal ones, have expressed a longing for the fraternal bonds of the priesthood. Many dioceses tout the priesthood as "the greatest fraternity on Earth." Alright. Fine - but this does not speak to what it actually means to be a priest, why they should have fraternal bonds, or anything along those lines.

Our priests, in addition to not having a net of support (or even a solitary thread of support for that matter), have to worry about the persistent politicking of the contemporary Church. There is no need for the politicking - the Holy Spirit has raised up for us a holy Pope, Benedict. For this reason, all Catholics are called to follow him with faith and without dissension. However, those priests who actually read the requests from the Vatican and attempt to enact them, are frequently seized upon by liberals, within the Church and outside it. I ask you - would a priest have the liberty to start facing ad orientem and to do so without any questions from Buffalo Road? I tend to doubt that he would. Just look at how the diocese treats those few priests who dare to stick by the teachings of Rome - they are either sent to failing parishes, parishes that are about to cluster/close, hospitals, colleges, and old-folks homes. While these are all ministries that must be maintained by the Church, an interesting trend emerges. If one looks at the parishes with the highest income, these parishes also have liberal pastors who, if they're not openly schismatic, permit such things to occur as liturgical dance, puppet-show homilies, lay preaching, etc.

How "fraternal" is this? It's not fraternal - it's favoritism, and we all know who the "favorites" are. Priests should not have enemies in their midst - only friends. Only "fratres."

However, Tacitus warns us - friends can be our downfall as well. How many times have we seen decent people betrayed by the ignorant and erring? And how many times have we seen an individual pose as a friend, only to emerge as a "delator," an informer. A priest once told me that there is an immense fear in the heart of most diocesan priests, that they will be "informed" upon by a peer for being "too orthodox." Another told me that he has "encountered too many snakes in the grass" to unfurl the banners of Truth.

What a disgusting and heinous crime it is, that a priest's word is now held as equal to a Joan's or a Nancy's. Priests have authority from God. It is not to be subverted by anyone, even brother priests and bishops. Our holy priests have been castrated by liberalism and bound by feminism. Enough. This is not the way God made His Church.

Boy Bishop (Chavagnes), December 2008

Jean-Baptiste,Chavagnes Boy-Bishop for St Nicholas Day 2008.

A living tradition from 16th Century England

The tradition of the boy bishop - elected each year on the 6th of December, from among the choristers of Cathedrals, Colleges and large parish churches - is an English custom dating back to the 12th century. It was abolished by Henry VII in 1542, but briefly revived under Mary.

The bishop would symbolically stand down at the moment in the Magnificat when the choir sang deposuit potentes de sede (He puts down the mighty from their thrones). Then the 'boy bishop' would ascend the throne at the words et exaltavit humiles. Apart from the celebration of Mass and the important Vespers and Lauds of Christmas itself, the boy would officiate at many services and make decrees as to the obligations of the other choristers (usually, extra food, less work, etc.)



It was a popular custom. Eton College elected two boy bishops each year, and all the Cathedrals had them, including St Paul's. The boy's reign would come to an end on Holy Innocent's Day, after he had himself preached a sermon at Mass. His fellow scholars would then have to give him a penny as a Christmas offering.

Like many similar traditions in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, it served to teach children about the dignity of high office (and especially the importance of the bishop's role in the Church.) It also demonstrates to those in authority the fragility of honour and rank; a warning that they should not cling to earthly honours.

Here, Bishop Jean-Baptiste (a pupil in year 8) presides at Pontifical Vespers and afterwards receives the customary reverences from pupils and visitors at the end of the ceremony.

The Boy Bishop's symbolic reign only lasts a day, but he makes good use of it. Having discharged his liturgical duties with great dignity, he presides at dinner, where he pronounces the blessing and grace.

Bishop Jean-Baptiste afterward decreed a later bedtime and a film evening for all pupils, while the suitably humiliated Chaplain and Masters cleaned the tables and swept the floor.

http://www.chavagnes.org/index.shtml

Smack of the Crozier Goes to . . .

. . . whoever plans the liturgies at Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Why?

Usually, I can rely on the best talent to perform for these Masses, such as Thomas Warfield, Nazareth College dancers, etc. However, the Cathedral Community is not trying as hard as they ought to be to bring in the best of the best, in terms of liturgical dancing. They obviously have not seen Stephen Colbert's unrivaled talent. Watch the video below, and see the splendor of the "progressive" Church.

I'll Say Hello to Barack For You

I will be in Washington D.C. for the first Latin Mass offered at the National Basilica in over 45 years. You should plan on reading this blog on April 24th and April 25th, for photos, commentary, and other liturgical glimpses. Below is the announcement from the Paulus Institute.

The Paulus Institute invites you to participate in an historic liturgical event in honor of Pope Benedict XVI, under the theme of “The Spirit of the Liturgy.” We have arranged to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Pope Benedict’s inauguration with a Pontifical Solemn Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington DC, April 24, 2010, at 1 pm. The Mass will be celebrated by a prince of the Church, the Vatican prelate Darío Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos. His Eminence is President Emeritus of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei and served under both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. The Mass will be offered in the Extraordinary Firm (Traditional Latin Mass), as encouraged by Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict. It will be the first such Mass said at the High Altar of the Shrine in nearly half a century. The priests of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter will assist at the Mass. The National Shrine is the largest Catholic church in the Western Hemisphere and among the ten largest in the world. The Shrine seats 3,500, with a total capacity of 6,500. We will be announcing the Mass to Catholics not only regionally, but throughout the Eastern U.S. and beyond. To honor His Holiness Pope Benedict on this special day, we are especially encouraging those Catholics to come who may not already know this Mass. In particular, we are inviting young adults and university students, whom Pope Benedict has recognized are attracted to the Mass in the Extraordinary form. Consistent with the mission of The Paulus Institute, this Mass is an activity undertaken with our signature objective: to have broad impact in the Catholic Church, as our patron St. Paul inspires. The Mass is presented for all the Catholic Faithful. We strive to enhance the appreciation of the Mass as Holy Sacrifice, to build respect for the Holy Eucharist, and to solidify belief in the Real Presence. As Pope Benedict has written— “The Church stands and falls with the Liturgy. When the adoration of the divine Trinity declines, when the faith no longer appears in its fullness on the Liturgy of the Church, when man’s words, his thoughts, his intentions are suffocating him, then faith will have lost the place where it is expressed and where it dwells. For that reason, the true celebration of the Sacred Liturgy is the centre of any renewal of the Church whatever.”

The Mass, as you read, will be offered by a Cardinal. So, yes, there is a definite possibility that I will receive a miter-nod, rather than bestow one. Will I be seeing any of you there?

The Seven Penitential Psalms - Psalm 50

Peccatoris paenitentis confessio, promissio, preces	Confession, prayer, and promise of a penitent sinner.
Renovari spiritu mentis vestrae et induere novum hominem (Eph 4:23-24)	Be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man. (Eph 4:23-24)
3 MISERERE MEI, Deus, * secundum magnam misericordiam tuam;	3 HAVE MERCY ON ME, O God, * according to Thy great mercy;
et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum: * dele iniquitatem meam.	and according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies: * blot out my iniquity.
4 Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea * et a peccato meo munda me.	4 Wash me from my iniquity; * and cleanse me of my sin.
5 Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco, * et peccatum meum contra me est semper.	5 For I acknowledge my iniquity, * and my sin is always before me.
6 Tibi, soli peccavi et malum coram te feci; * ut iustificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincas cum iudicaris.	6 Against Thee alone have I sinned and done evil in Thy sight; * that Thou mayest be justified in Thy sentence and mayest overcome when judged.
7 Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum, * et in peccatis concepit me mater mea.	7 For behold, I was conceived in sin, * and in sin my mother conceived me;
8 Ecce enim veritatem dilexisti * incerta et occulta sapientiae tuae manifestasti mihi.	8 For behold, Thou hast loved truth, * and the uncertain and hidden things of Thy wisdom Thou hast shown me.
9 Asperges me hyssopo, et mundabor; * lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.	9 Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed, * Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
10 Auditui meo dabis gaudium et laetitiam, * et exultabunt ossa humiliata.	10 Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness, * and the bones Thou hath crushed shall rejoice.
11 Averte faciem tuam a peccatis meis, * et omnes iniquitates meas dele.	11 Turn away Thy face from my sins, * and blot out all my iniquities.
12 Cor mundum crea in me, Deus, * et spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis.	12 Create in me a clean heart, O God, * and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
13 Ne proiicias me a facie tua * et spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas a me.	13 Cast me not from Thy presence, * and take not Thy holy spirit from me.
14 Redde mihi laetitiam salutaris tui * et spiritu principali confirma me.	14 Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, * and strengthen me with Thy spirit.
15 Docebo iniquos vias tuas, * et impii ad te convertentur.	15 I will teach the unjust Thy ways, * and the wicked shall be converted to Thee.
16 Libera me de sanguinibus, Deus, Deus salutis meae, * et exultabit lingua mea iustitiam tuam.	16 Deliver me from blood guilt, O God, the God of my salvation * , and my tongue shall extol Thy justice.
17 Domine, labia mea aperies, * et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam.	17 Thou shalt open my lips, O Lord, * and my mouth shall declare Thy praise.
18 Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium, dedissem utique, * holocaustis non delectaberis.	18 For if Thou didst desire sacrifice, I would have indeed given it, * with a burnt offering Thou art not pleased.
19 Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus, * cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies.	19 A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit, * a contrite and humbled heart, O God, Thou shalt not despise.
20 Benigne fac, Domine, in bona voluntate tua Sion, * ut aedificentur muri Ierusalem.	20 Deal favorably, O Lord, in Thy good will with Sion * that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.
21 Tunc acceptabis sacrificium iustitiae, oblationes et holocausta; * tunc imponent super altare tuum vitulos.	21 Then shalt Thou accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations and whole burnt offerings, * then shall they lay calves upon Thy altar.

The accompanying prayer for this psalm is directed against the sins of lust.

Oratio contra luxuriam

Prayer against lust

Pater, peccavi in caelum et coram te, et iam non sum dignus vocari filius tuus. Quid faciam miser? Non enim permanebit Spiritus tuus in homine, quia caro est. Ah! miserere mei, miserere. Quod cum tot reproborum milibus, quos hodiedum abominanda luxuriae pestis in Gehennam praecipitat, captus non sim, infinitae tuae bonitati adscribo. Ergone iterum peccabo? Iterumne pretiosissimum Sanguinem tuum, O Iesu, in ablutionem scelerum meorum effusum, amore bestialium voluptatum, conculcabo? Absit, O Iesu, absit! Obsecro te, O Fili castissimae Virginis Mariae, a spiritu fornicationis libera me. Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea, et a peccato meo munda me. Ne proiicias me a facie tua, et Spiritum Sanctum tuum ne auferas a me!

Father, I have sinned against heaven and before Thee, and now I am not worthy to be called Thy son. What shall I, wretched that I am, do? For Thy Spirit shall not remain in man, for he is flesh. Oh have mercy on me, have mercy! I attribute to Thy infinite goodness that I am not taken along with the many thousands of the damned, who the cursed abomination of lust casts headlong into Gehenna even today. Shall I therefore sin again? O Jesus, in the love of base pleasures shall I again trample under foot Thy most precious Blood poured forth in the washing away of my sins? Far from it, O Jesus, far from it! I beseech Thee, O Son of the most chaste Virgin Mary to free me from the spirit of fornication. Wash me from my iniquities and cleanse me from my sin. Do not cast me from Thy face nor take Thy Holy Spirit from me!