Diaconate Ordination - Part V

Let's see how many people you can name from the opening procession at the June 5 ordination Mass. This video is kind of like a who's who of DoR politicking. I have another video I will upload soon showing the second part of the procession.


On an unrelated note, we will be starting voting in the "Vocatus Es Contest" when we switch over to the new site.

Why Altar Boys, Not Altar Boys and Girls?

This article from the National Catholic Register is expertly written. Everyone involved in youth ministry, parish work, faith formation, CCD, server training, liturgy coordination, etc. should read this. People tend to forget that there was a reason for everything in the Church, and when certain traditions were done away with, like only boys serving Mass, things began to crumble. I am not saying that girls aren't worthy, or that they are incompetent. I am merely stating that vocations are fostered on the steps of the high altar. When girls began to serve, many young men felt pressured to stop. They felt effeminate and dainty all of a sudden. What had once been a manly, masculine thing became a transgendered and politically-minded affair. I know there are some pious altar girls reading this, and I know that they are among those "working to change things from the inside." They have my miter-nod, of course.

Now the article:

The altar servers at Holy Family Catholic Church in St. Louis Park, Minn., are a sight to behold. In their white surplices and black cassocks — red for special feasts like Christmas and Pentecost — six carry candles, while others process in with the cross, Sacramentary and incense thurible and boat. Between 12 and 20 altar servers assist at every Mass, every Sunday. On special feasts, the head count jumps to more than 30.
And the most astonishing facet of the scene: All of the altar servers are boys.
It’s a sight that must put a smile on the heavenly face of St. John Bosco (1815-1888), the great priest-mentor who promoted the banding together of boys in religious activities. The Church celebrates his feast on Jan. 25.
Holy Family Church is one of a number of parishes that, after deciding to go with an all-boy corps of altar servers, have seen a notable increase in the number of boys participating in the life of the parish.
At Holy Family, the decision was made 10 years ago, when only a few boys were servers. The surge was on immediately. Today, more than 60 boys stand at the ready.
“What’s happened is: The younger boys can’t wait to get on the altar,” says parishioner Bob Spinharney. “And the older boys, to their great credit, stay on even beyond high school age. So the younger boys always have role models to look up to.”
Spinharney and fellow parishioner Mark Rode got the approval of their pastor, Father Thomas Dufner, for the altar boy program. Then they built key elements, like a hierarchy of services and names for each position.
Starting at age 10 as “leads” (beginners who observe from the altar), boys can stay as servers into their early 20s. Along the way, they progress to “torchbearer,” holding one of six candles for processing and during the Gospel reading and consecration; “mains,” serving the priest and ringing bells; “cross” and “book” with Sacramentary duties; and “thurifer” and “boat,” assisting with the incense during consecration. At each Mass, an older boy is designated “master of ceremonies” to lead and supervise the “troops.”
What drove the two men to suggest the experiment a decade ago? Two observations.
One: “When boys and girls are mixed on the altar, the boys tend to be less participative. They defer to the girls,” explains Spinharney. And two: “Many priestly vocations come from the altar. We’re trying to drive new vocations.”
Father Dufner expounds on those points. “Girls tend to be more reliable and get jobs done more effectively,” he says, “so the boys tend to drop out.” At the same time, he notices that boys are excited about being part of an all-male group that is hierarchical and advancement-oriented.
“And, clearly, reverent worship of God the Father through Jesus Christ in the liturgy is a calling card for vocations,” adds Father Dufner. In fact, one of the two current seminarians from this parish — from which four men have been ordained in the last 10 years — was an altar server. Both seminarians come back often to help the youngsters on Sundays, as do server alumni like Spinharney’s college-age son Jordan. The alumni become mentors.
“Boys 7 and 8 are glued to the Mass, watching their friends and brothers,” says Rode. “They can’t wait.”
According to Spinharney, no parent has complained about the absence of female altar servers. Instead of a dramatic immediate shift, the girls were allowed to phase out by age and were reminded of the many other services they could provide.
“The last two girls became some of our finest lectors,” points out Father Dufner.

Altar Apprenticeship
St. Michael Parish in Annandale, Va., also has an all-male server corps. Father Jerry Pokorsky, the pastor, says that when altar girls were permitted, they became the norm. The boys stopped volunteering.
“Lay readers and extraordinary ministers serve the people,” he says. “The altar boy serves the priest. He’s the hands of the priest. He would be an apprentice, either in a real or symbolic way, for the priesthood.”
When parents ask why their daughters can’t become altar servers, “they may not agree, but they do understand,” Father Pokorsky says.
With help from the parish’s Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters, this new pastor is working on a Helpers of Mary ministry for girls to visit nursing homes.
When discussing the question of female altar servers, “It is important not to [use] political categories such as rights, equality, discrimination, etc., which only serve to fog the issue,” wrote Legionary Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, on the Zenit news service website. “We are dealing with the privilege of serving in an act of worship to which nobody has any inherent rights.
“The question should be framed as to what is best for the good of souls in each diocese and parish. It is thus an eminently pastoral and not an administrative decision, and this is why it should be determined at the local level.”
The Church opened the altar service position to girls in 1994 in a letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. “The Holy See’s recommendation is to retain as far as possible the custom of having only boys as servers,” explains Father McNamara. “But it leaves to the bishop the choice of permitting women and girls for a good reason and to the pastor of each parish the decision as to whether to act on the bishop’s permission.”

Positive Peer Pressure
At Holy Family, Jean Prather sees nothing but positive effects in her son and daughters from the all-boy altar-service policy. Nick is 16 and has risen through the ranks. Oldest daughter, Emily, also in high school, has been a lector since fourth grade.
“They both have their place to contribute in the Mass. Emily wanted to do that after she saw an older teenage girl lector. It really is a positive peer pressure thing.”
“I always like to tell Nick what a special job he has to be so close to Jesus and serve him,” continues Prather. “He has learned such reverence. He really listens and brings things up that Father talks about in his homilies.”
Prather, too, believes participating in the liturgy can open boys’ hearts to hearing a call to a priestly or religious vocation.
But she stresses what the change has done for the parish as well as the servers in lifting people’s hearts to God. The surplices, cassocks and reverential pageantry are “what King Jesus deserves,” she says. “The reverence and beauty and example brings people into the reverence and glory of the Mass by having these altar boys not only as servers but as examples.”
As young as they are, says Rode, they understand there’s something really special going on at the altar: “We truly have the Real Presence.”

Staff writer Joseph Pronechen is based in Trumbull, Connecticut.

Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, was asked about the Church’s position on female altar servers. The following is excerpted from his response.

A 1994 letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments [clarified] that girls may serve at the altar. But bishops are not bound to permit them to do so, nor could the episcopal conference limit the bishop’s faculty to decide for himself.
The letter states: “It will always be very appropriate to follow the noble tradition of having boys serve at the altar. As is well known, this has led to a reassuring development of priestly vocations. Thus the obligation to support such groups of altar boys will always continue.”
The letter also recommends to bishops to consider “among other things, the sensibilities of the faithful, the reasons which would motivate such permission and the different liturgical settings and congregations which gather for the holy Mass.”
Among the pastoral factors to be weighed is the obvious yet often forgotten fact that boys and girls are different and require different motivational and formative methods.
Preteen boys … tend to reject sharing activities with girls. They also tend to have a greater need for such structured activities than girls, who are usually more mature and responsible at this stage of life.
It is also true that groups of boy servers have fostered vocations to the priesthood. But to be fair, this usually happens within a broader culture of openness to a vocation in which other elements come into play, such as the example and spiritual guidance given by good priests and family support.
It is very difficult to lay down precise rules in a matter like this since the situation may vary widely between parishes.

I Wish I Were the Little Key

I happened upon this poem when I was browsing through old Eucharistic hymns and prayer cards. It seems like something that would appeal to certain of you - I know I certainly enjoyed it.

I wish I were the little key

That locks Love's captive in

And who lets Him out to go and free

A stricken heart from sin.

I wish I were the little bell

That tinkles for the Host,

When God comes down each day to dwell

With hearts He loves the most.

I wish I were the chalice fair

That holds the Blood of Love

When every flash lights holy prayer

Upon its way above.

I wish I were the little flower

So near the Host's sweet face,

Or like the light that half an hour

Burns on the shrine of grace.

I wish I were the altar, where,

As on His Mother's Breast,

Christ nestles, like a child , fore'er

In Eucharistic rest.

But oh, my God, I wish the most

That my poor heart may be

A home all holy for each Host

That comes in love to me.

 

 

Diaconate Ordination - Part IV

Buried among all the liberal politicking and the liturgical problems at the Diaconate Ordination, there were a couple gems I should like to share with you all. The one in the video below was particularly enjoyable. Bishop Clark is thrilled to be ordaining a married man to the priesthood next year, but I think we all know that the bishop isn't getting a liberal poster child of dissent. He's getting a loyal son of the Church. For this reason, when Dr. Caton knelt in front of Bishop Clark, and the bishop told him "Scott, believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach," a little burst of glee had to be suppressed in my throat.

Diaconate Ordination - Part III

The video below is of the vesting of the newly-ordained deacons. If you look closely (watch this in full screen mode) you will note Fr. Dennis Bonsignore was the vesting priest for Dr. Caton. They can be seen towards the left of the sanctuary - Dr. Caton is the taller fellow standing near the two women in red shirts.

The new growth of orthodoxy in Rochester has begun, folks, and it began right under Bishop Clark's cathedra.

Diaconate Ordination - Part II

Part 2 of a many-part series on the liturgical irregularities at Sacred Heart Cathedral.

I am certain that all of you have heard that absolutely atrocious setting of the Alleluia used by the DoR to celebrate feigned-diversity. You know, "Halle, Halle, Halle . . . .Looo - ooooo - yah." Well, I bet you've never seen 50 priests and a bishop clapping to it, along with hordes of deacons and lay people.

I have much to say about this, but the video can sum it all up better than I can. Be sure to watch it full -screen - I shot in HD for you. You can even see Bishop Clark clapping in rhythm. Now isn't that just the cherry on top of the liturgy sundae?

Diaconate Ordination - Part I

I was graced to be able to be present for Dr. Scott Caton's ordination this Saturday. While the Mass was certainly not as bad and riddled with abuse that it could have been (i.e. prancing gays in tights) there were certainly several moments of liturgical-disconnect. One instance that particularly stood out to me was the following clip I shot. During the preparation of the gifts, the choir sang "I Am the Lord of the Dance," accompanied by one of the Dady Brothers (secular musicians, mind you) playing the mandolin. Now, I love the Dady Brothers. They're great local talent. However, just because you're an amazing artists doesn't mean that you have the right to strum your mandolin, or guitar, or whatever in the sanctuary of God. There is a clear separation of sacred and profane that should be recognized by the planners of the liturgy. But, then again, we know what "liturgies" are permitted and endorsed by the DoR.

Anyways, the striking thing about this piece was that they're singing about Our Lord as if he's Garth Fagan, a dance master and glee-maker. About 50 feet above Mr. Dady and his mandolin is a life-sized crucifix, showing Our Crucified Lord. All around the church are the bloody stations depicting Our Savior's woe. Why would such a song as this be considered appropriate for a Mass? The Mass is a celebration and memorial of Calvary, not the last season of Dancing With the Stars.

Deaconate Ordination Tomorrow

Just a reminder for you all - there will be deaconate ordinations tomorrow at 10:30 at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Normally, I would consider the Cathedral a no-fly zone for people who have genuine regard for the Liturgy. However, Dr. Scott Caton will be ordained to the transitional deaconate at this Mass. He is definitely worthy of your prayers, as are the seven other men who will be ordained to the permanent deaconate. Your prayers are one of the sources of much-needed grace and strength for our ordained ministers.

If you can make it to the Cathedral for this special day, I would strongly urge you to do so. Show your support for ordained ministry. I find it extremely ironic that the diocese pitches the "we want vocations" shpeal so often, but the Master of Ceremonies is a nun, vested in alb. Only in Rochester do we have a Mistress of Ceremonies in lieu of a Master of Ceremonies, who is typically a monsignor. What message does this send to the young men in the diocese? "We want vocations, but it's nothing special to be a priest - anyone can play the part."

You can have the nicest posters, the most reverent priests, the most intimate conversations with discerners and seminarians, but without the proper liturgical and sacramental formation, vocations die. And when vocations die, so do parishes and schools. When the Mass is corrupted, so too are the minds of those young men who are called to ordained ministry in the deaconate or the priesthood. We have seen this in so many instances in Rochester - I can state with certainty that Jim Callan had a vocation to the priesthood, but look at how he was warped! That was not his doing, but the doing of a lacklustre administration in his formation years. There is a glimmer of hope in every heretic's heart, and that glimmer is the Call they received from God. If only human politicking did not obscure God's plans so easily.

So come to the ordination, tomorrow, Saturday, at 10:30 AM at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Show your bishop that you support our ordained ministers. Be there for Dr. Caton on this blessed day, and give him your prayerful support. And in the long-term, do all that you can to let the young men in your parish know that the priesthood is something so transcendent that it cannot be restricted to "sacramental ministering" and parish administration. To be a priest is to love the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and through this piercing and all-consuming love come the sacraments of the Church, and through them, the singular grace which only can be attained through them. Without the priesthood, there are no sacraments and no Church.

Pray for vocations. Support our young men, our seminarians, our discerners, our Becket Hall residents, and even your own sons. Put your sons into the altar serving program at your parish, because there is no surer fountain of vocational awareness than being in the sanctuary of Our God, aiding the priest who makes God incarnate again and again, each and every day reenacting that bloody sacrifice of Calvary. To serve at the altar of the Lord is to kneel shoulder to shoulder with the choirs of haven, the hosts of angels, and the saints who have gone before us in Faith. Show your sons that a vocation to ordained life is a manly, noble thing, not something to be toyed with for political gain. Pray for our priests, and pray for our deacons, and pray for our religious. May God bless them in their ministry, and may He bless Dr. Caton and his fellow soon-to-be-deacons in their zeal for God's Church.

Orthodoxy - the Obvious Choice

The two videos below are from two valid Masses in the United States. However, the one is markedly different from the other. The first one is from a "Teen Mass." I guess a regular "Mass" isn't good enough for some people. When I watched this video, I was struck by how trite the whole thing is. There's more effort going into throwing the slides on the screen than there is in trying to read the Word of God worthily. The second video is from the 2007 Sacred Music Colloquium in Washington. Now when you compare the two, and you measure the reverence, the piety, the tastefulness, the beauty, and the eye appeal, the obvious "winner" is the second video.

Why?

The Mass is a reenactment of Calvary - it is not a talent show, a powerpoint presentation, a chance to socialize, or an opportunity to meet new friends. It is Heaven on Earth, and those who are loyal to the Church, and whose views are orthodox and unfaltering, realize this.

So watch these two videos, and feel free to comment on what you feel is more sacred, and why you feel that way. Bear in mind that these are both Novus Ordo Masses, that is, "Ordinary Form." They are using the same missal, the same rubrics, the same norms. However, one of them is celebrating Mass according to the genuine spirit of Vatican II, and the other is possessed by the impostor spirits of Vatican II, which were not of divine origin.

The Battle for the Ancient Mass

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, aka FSSP, has released this rather interesting talk called "The Battle for the Ancient Mass." I would strongly urge you to give it a listen. It certainly rings true.

http://fssp.com/press/2010/05/audio-the-battle-for-the-ancient-mass/

Jesus, a Nice Guy

I would just like to share, briefly, the gist of a homily I heard today. Those of you who watched EWTN's Mass, or went to one around the DoR, will have noted that the Gospel is that which deals with the cleansing of the temple. The Mass I attended had a priest presiding (rare, I know), who gave this little bit of insight which is ideal for us who zealously seek to restore reverence to our own "temples." And, no, I wasn't anywhere remotely close to Our Lady of Victory, so don't even think about it.

"We see Jesus get angry. Now, don't get me wrong. Jesus was a nice guy. A great guy. He got hungry, because He was fully man, and He probably got cranky too, because He was fully man. Some of you are probably thinking, 'God shouldn't get angry like that. It's scary.' Well, what we see today in the Gospel is called 'righteous anger.' Would that we be consumed with the same passion to cleanse our parishes of the abuses we see perpetrated in the sight of God. What clearer directive do we have, friends, than this? God cleansed His own temple. Imagine all the pigeons flying out, all the coins rolling down the temple steps, and why? Because God's anger was brought upon these perpetrators of sacrilege. He will not permit Himself to be profaned, and that is what drove Our Lord's divine anger."

Bishop Morlino on Eucharistic Reverence

This was sent to us by a dear friend of the blog. Many thanks go out to her and her family. May God bless such kind-hearted and sincere Catholics.

The video below is of Bishop Morlino discussing reverence at Mass. His insight is invaluable, and should be given, in a spirit of precise charity, to all your administrators, your pastors, your sacramental ministers, or what ever else you may have. He states, "No one intends to be irreverent." I could not agree more. Our lay preachers think they're doing the right thing. They love the Church, but in a very inappropriate way. Just like a 15 year old boy may "love" his girlfriend after a night of passion, that love is misplaced and juvenile. There's something there, but it's trounced and destroyed by the effects of sin. No one, unless they are instruments of Satan, seeks to destroy that which they know to be good. No one, unless they are instruments of Satan, would follow a path they know to be wrong. However, if we permit these people to walk in these ways, to continue embracing the metaphorical girlfriend, we testify to be in error ourselves, for we are doing nothing to bolster the good which we perceive, the good which Our Lord perceives.

Liturgical Reform

This video sets forth very clearly exactly what we (and others like us) mean when we talk about "reform of the reform."

You Know You're in Good Company When . . .

. . . at daily Mass, the priest sings "Dominus Vobiscum" and every single person responds in flawless unison, "et cum spiritu tuo."

And you also know you're in good company when, on a similar note, every single person can sing the chant ordinaries without picking up a book.

That's the real spirit of Vatican II. The sooner you grasp that, the sooner you become a citizen of reality.

Cardinal Arinze on Kneeling, Communion Rails, and Eucharistic Reverence

Mozart's Veni Sancte Spiritus

This is the closing portion of the piece - definitely worth a listen.

Our Lady of the Lighthouses, Pray For Us

A reader of the blog sent the following to us. He was visiting his aunt, a one-time parishioner at St. Anne Church on Mt. Hope Avenue, and who now lives at Monroe Community Hospital. The reason she chose to live there rather than a home like St. John's or St. Ann is because she knows how reverent the Masses are there. Every Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, Fr. Bonsignore offers a Mass, and in her words, "they're just so sublime!"

Well, today the hospital chaplain was away, celebrating the golden anniversary of ordination for a friend of his. In his stead was a priest who, at the request of the "informant," will remain nameless. Usually, this priest is solid, loving the Traditions of Holy Mother Church. And doubtless he did today, but in a most . . . peculiar . . . way.

Upon the altar, flanking the crucifix, he placed to lighthouse figurines. Adorning them at their base was the stole which should have been worn with the chasuble he chose for the day. However, the stole that he wore (over his chasuble, mind you) was apparently made of felt, with glued-on flames and other "fire decorations." His explanation for the statuettes was that they represented the fruits and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He continued this theme at the "Behold the Lamb of God" portion of the Mass by saying, "Here is the Lamb of God, whose fruits and gifts are like these beacons on the shores of life. Happy are those who have been called to His supper."

This is part of a trend which is perhaps the most unfortunate of trends in the post-Conciliar Church. Uniformity has been lost. The Mass is an instrument of whatever priest is saying it, rather than being a timeless, ageless, statement-free liturgy focused on God rather than self. Are we starting to see the merits of having a by-the-book interpretation, folks? When you "say the black and do the red," no one gets angry, no one feels hurt, and the Mass is genuinely beautiful. However, when you let personal ideas and tastes infiltrate the hallowed halls of our liturgical "know-how," that's when problems begin.

I hope that you all had a lighthouse-free Pentecost. I'm certainly glad I did.

"Did you lose parishioners?"

The following appeared in the St. Helen parish bulletin this weekend:

I just hate it when the people who remain misinterpret why people left. No, it was not because they rejected to the person of Sr. Joan. No, they didn't object because she was a nun, not a priest. No, they didn't object because she was a SSJ. They objected because she is in open denial of papal authority, and shows an unabashed hate for everything traditional and orthodox in the Church. The fear over Latin being lost was quite real, from what I have been told by friends. However, that has stayed. But only because Sr. Joan knows that if she cut that, St. Anne would be just another bland, flavorless parish devoid of any liturgical strength.

The reason people leave parishes is not so much a matter of "I don't like _________" but rather "I don't like what ________ does because it is illicit." People could have cared less about Sr. Joan if she had just stayed in the pew rather than insert herself into the Mass. However, when you have an administrator (aka "business manager") sitting, vested, next to the priest, major problems arise. People, even if they are not the most well-read Catholics, can discern when something is not quite right. That's how so many of our readers find us - they think something is slightly amiss, so they check with people who have experienced the same thing.

So, yes, people left because of Sr. Joan. However, this bulletin blurb would lead you to think that they were the stick-in-the-mud reactionaries who can't deal with change. No. Those who left did so because they were told to do so by their pastoral administrator. "Go fertilize another parish." "Take your subversion elsewhere." "You're theology is backwards." "I'm the new resurrection." These words, dear friends, are not words of comfort or pastoral leadership. They are the rantings and intemperate bleatings of a nun whose goal is not to glorify God, but to glorify herself. I am sorry, but it is absolutely true.

If you go to any of the parishes in Gates, or know people who go there, set the record straight. People don't leave only because of the clustering. The majority will leave if they are presented with heterodoxy and dissent from Church teaching. Who cares if you have to go to Mass at a different time? The real battles come when you are confronted with administrators who have no regard for the legitimate authority of Rome. Diocesan norms mean nothing if they run contradictory to those from Rome. A bishop must do as Rome does. If he does not, he is in error, and is in denial of Rome. Rome has said NO to lay preaching, NO to women's ordination, and NO to every other abuse perpetrated by Sr. Sobala. It's time we look towards Rome for leadership, for our own local leaders are so consumed with pride they have lost sight of the authentic faith which they were ordained and appointed to defend.

Pray for Sr. Joan. Pray for Bishop Clark. They need our prayers more than most.

What's So Appealing About Orthodoxy?

Just ask any of these people who pack the pews of Our Lady of Victory.

The Key is Dignity

I had a chat today with a musician at  the Church of the Assumption, whose musical abilities are undeniable and clearly God-given. She was asking about my liturgical tastes, and I explained to her that the liturgy of the Church must be "mutually enriching," to borrow a term from our dear Pope. We must learn from the old when conceiving the new. Continuity is integral to liturgical music, as is seen by many new hymns being published which are in English, but set to the old Gregorian melodies. When I gave her this reasoning, she was very pleasant, but she looked at me, put her guitar down, and said, "well, if you want to go a step backwards, that's okay."

Backwards? This is going a step forward, in the true spirit of Vatican II, which declared that Gregorian Chant have "principum locum," principal, primary place in the liturgy. The Council never intended for guitars and plucky psalm-tones, but alas, that's what we have. And so, I decided to tell her about my upcoming trip to the Sacred Music Colloquium with Choir, Sr. Emily, and two other friends of the blog. I particularly pointed out that we will be singing Latin motets written, not 500 years ago, but 25 years ago, and which are wholly reverent and suited for the liturgy. They are undeniably sacred. Of course, we will be singing the old pieces as well, Tallis, and Byrd, and Victoria among them. Again - this is what the Council had in mind: a refreshing of the old in light of the new.

The debate then turned, most subtlety to the question of dignified music. However, what I said can be summarized in this video just released by the Lalemant Polyphonic channel. Be sure to check out their psalm settings for the Ordinary Form. They are quite beautiful.