WATCH THE INTERVIEW BY PRESSING THIS SENTENCE!
Saturday, December 31, 2022
A GREAT INTERVIEW ABOUT POPE BENEDICT XVI AND A VERY TELLING ANSWER!
Archbishop Georg Gänswein gave a great interview and the money-byte sums it up for me too: Press title for full interview:
Benedict XVI’s Personal Secretary: ‘The Proclamation of God Was the Center of Benedict XVI’s Pontificate’
Which of the words he said will you remember? What will remain?
Well, at this point, let me just spill the beans: Time and again — especially during his time as emeritus — I found myself in difficult situations; moments when I said: “Holy Father, this cannot be! I cannot cope with it! The Church is running against a brick wall! I don’t know: Is the Lord asleep; is he not there? What’s going on?” And he said, “You know the Gospel a little, don’t you? The Lord was asleep in the boat on the Sea of Galilee, so the story goes. The disciples were afraid: A storm was coming; waves were coming. And they woke him up because they didn’t know what to do. And he just said, ‘What’s going on?’ Jesus only had to speak a few words to the storm, in order to make it clear that he is the Lord, even over the weather and the storms.” And then Benedict said to me: “Look, the Lord doesn’t sleep! So, if, even in his presence, the disciples were afraid, it’s quite normal that the disciples of today can be afraid, here and there. But never forget one thing: He is here, and he remains here. And in all that’s troubling you now, that’s difficult for you now, that weighs on your heart or on your stomach, that is something you must never forget! Take that from me; I act accordingly.”
That is something that, among other things, has really sunk into my heart, and it remains firmly anchored there.
THANK YOU POPE BENEDICT XVI FOR RESTORING A LOVE FOR THE CHURCH AND HER TRADITIONS AS WELL AS THE WAY FORWARD FOR THE CHURCH ON PILGRIMAGE TO HEAVEN, RENEWAL IN CONTINUITY NOT IN RUPTURE WITH OUR PRE-VATICAN II CATHOLIC IDENTITY
Pope Benedict’s papacy brought for me a renewed appreciation of the Catholicism of my heritage, as the Church and Catholics were prior to Vatican II. He helped to clarify for those who willingly followed his lead, that the true renewal of the Church hinges on our strong Catholic identity and the strong identity of the priest as a priest configured to Christ the High Priest or “in persona Christi” especially during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
I just celebrated one aspect of his legacy, the Traditional Latin Requiem for the happy repose of the soul of Pope Benedict XVI, using the 1962 Roman Missal. THANK YOU POPE BENEDICT. May the ethos of your pontificate be a shining light in the Church today mired in a renewed self-absorption and dictatorship of relativism.
Below these photos of my private Traditional Latin Requiem for Pope Benedict in my personal presbytery, is the homily I gave at St. Joseph Church on Thursday, February 28, 2013, two hours before Pope Benedict’s abdication took place.
At 12 noon on February 28, 2013, Saint Joseph Church was practically full for the Mass of Thanksgiving for His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, Pontifex Maximus. The following is my homily for that Mass:
In his final talk to the world at yesterday’s General audience where more than 200,000 pilgrims had come to witness history in the making, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict, said the following: “I want everyone to feel the joy of being Christian. In a beautiful prayer to be recited daily in the morning says, “I adore you, my God, I love you with all my heart. I thank You for having created me, for having made me a Christian.” Yes, we are happy for the gift of faith: it is the most precious good, that no one can take from us! Let us thank God for this every day, with prayer and with a coherent Christian life. God loves us, but He also expects that we love Him!"
The most fundamental truth the Holy Father teaches about the Catholic Church is that it is like a barque or a boat and that no matter what, and I quote our Holy Father, "I always knew that the Lord is in the barque, that the barque of the Church is not mine, not ours, but His - and He shall not let her sink."
If you listen to the voices of the world expressed by the Mass media, like CNN or the New York Times or those who have little or no faith, hope or love, you would think that the Catholic Church is some kind of merely human organization that is about to collapse after 2000 years, but the Holy Father knows that the Catholic Church is not like any organization, it is not like a retail store, such as Walmart that can go out of business. No the Catholic Church is like our Lord, One Divine reality with two natures, human and divine and as such the gates of hell shall never prevail against her although we will experience trials and tribulations from the sins that Christians commit and the forces of the world and of Satan that are against us.
The Holy Father though, like us, had his moments when he wondered if the Lord was with him or if the Lord had abandoned him and the Church. Have you ever felt that way? Don’t worry, you are in good company, especially when things are not going our way and evil seems to be more powerful that goodness. But that is the deception of the evil one, of the devil. But listen to the words of our Holy Father as he expresses what so many of us sometimes feel: “I have felt like St. Peter with the Apostles in the boat on the Sea of Galilee: the Lord has given us many days of sunshine and gentle breeze, days in which the catch [of fish] has been abundant; [then] there have been times when the seas were rough and the wind against us, as in the whole history of the Church it has ever been - and the Lord seemed to sleep."
But the Holy Father also makes clear that the Lord is not asleep and is quite aware of our needs and that the “Barque of Saint Peter” the Church, belongs to Him and not to us! The Holy Father continues in his great farewell address of yesterday: “I also receive many letters from ordinary people who write to me simply from their heart and let me feel their affection, which is born of our being together in Christ Jesus, in the Church. These people do not write me as one might write, for example, to a prince or a great figure one does not know. They write as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, with the sense of very affectionate family ties. Here, one can touch what the Church is – not an organization, not an association for religious or humanitarian purposes, but a living body, a community of brothers and sisters in the Body of Jesus Christ, who unites us all. To experience the Church in this way and almost be able to touch with one’s hands the power of His truth and His love, is a source of joy, in a time in which many speak of its decline.”
The Holy Father is courageous in closing the door on his papacy in order to allow the Lord to open a new door on a new papacy.
The Holy Father tells us to pray for the Cardinals who under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the protection of our Blessed Mother, Mary Most Holy, a new pope will be elected. The first pope of the Catholic Church was St. Peter, the apostle. Since then, there have been a total of 266 popes in a continuous line of apostolic succession spanning almost 2000 years. The 266th pope is Pope Benedict XVI. We will very soon have the 267 pope who only the Lord Himself knows who it will be and what name he will call himself. This is history in the making and we are a part of it today and we should give thanks to God for being able to participate in this most dramatic point in the history of the Catholic Church.
[Toward the end of his homily, the Holy Father stated:] "I thank each and every one of you for the respect and understanding with which you have welcomed this important decision. I continue to accompany the Church on her way through prayer and reflection, with the dedication to the Lord and to His Bride, which I have always tried to live daily and that I would live forever. I ask you to remember me before God, and above all to pray for the Cardinals, who are called to so important a task, and for the new Successor of Peter, that the Lord might accompany him with the light and the power of His Spirit."
Like Saint Peter who was asked multiple times by the Lord, “Do you love?” The Holy Father has always said yes and he will continue to say yes as the [Pontifex Maximus Emeritus]. As we continue this Holy Mass, let us too say yes to the Lord and let us give thanks to God for so great a pope, Pope Benedict the Great as we listen to his final words in yesterday’s farewell speech:
Quote, “Dear friends! God guides His Church, maintains her always, and especially in difficult times. Let us never lose this vision of faith, which is the only true vision of the way of the Church and the world. In our heart, in the heart of each of you, let there be always the joyous certainty that the Lord is near, that He does not abandon us, that He is near to us and that He surrounds us with His love. Thank you!” Closed quotes.
LAICIZED PRIEST, LAYMAN, MR. JONATHAN MORRIS BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE THE LATE POPE BENEDICT XVI ON FOX AND FRIENDS THIS SATURDAY MORNING
You can watch the Fox and Friends interview by pressing this sentence.
No longer do we need to refer to Pope Benedict as Pope Emeritus. In death, he is Pope Benedict XVI just as all other deceased popes maintain that papal title in full.
POPE EMERITUS I/BENEDICT XVI/JOSEPH RATZINGER IS BORN TO ETERNAL LIFE…
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May he rest in peace. Amen.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
~Amen~
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.
Et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Fidelium animae, per misericordiam Dei,
requiescant in pace.
~Amen~
(Crux)The Emeritus died on Saturday, December 31 at 9:30 am Rome time. As of Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, Benedict’s remains will be placed in St. Peter’s Basilica to allow faithful to pay their final respects.
His funeral will be celebrated Thursday, Jan. 5 at 9:30a.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica, and will be presided over by Pope Francis.
VATICAN NEWS WEBPAGE TODAY:
Thursday, December 29, 2022
POPE BENEDICT, THE WAY FORWARD! GOING BACK TO THE 1970’S, THE WORST BACKWARDISIM, IS AND HAS BEEN AN ABSOLUTE DISASTER!
It seems to me that no matter how much Pope Francis marginalizes those who are orthodox as going backwards, it is in fact Pope Francis who has been bringing the Church backwards to the 1970’s.
The 1970’s was and still is a miserable failure. To go back to that is a disaster and we will continue to bleed membership to non-denominational and more orthodox evangelicalism.
Pope Benedict is the way forward. I believe that once he passes to His Holiness just reward, the Church will rediscover his way forward and finally put to rest the disaster that the 1970’s was and is!
WHAT TO DO? WHAT TO DO? WHAT TO DO?
I knew that Rupnik was a prolific artist especially of mosaics. I don’t like his art and that was before we knew what we know. But, art is art and this is art whether you like it or not.
As I have written before, I was not pleased that two stained glass windows installed in a South Georgia parish, my first assignment, were removed. These windows, while quite controversial in style, were commissioned by the parish council at the time. A monk, Fr. Cyril Methodious, created these windows and all the windows in the church. These were far from cheap even in 1980.
Here’s a list of where you can fine Rupnik’s art:
Lourdes. Fatima. Padre Pio’s crypt in San Giovanni Rotondo. Pope St. John Paul II’s shrines in Krakow and Washington, DC. Madrid’s cathedral adoration chapel. Aparecida. The Redemptoris mater chapel of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. Even the image most closely associated with Pope Francis’s signature Year of Mercy.
I visited Padre Pio’s crypt in San Giovanni Rotondo in 2013 and took these photos:
Should all his art be removed and placed in a secular venue or can the Church celebrate the good someone has done while condemning the evil.
Should Italians have returned their trains back chronic tardiness once Mussolini was executed for his war crimes?
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
SAINT ANNE’S, RICHMOND HII’s NEW MONSTRANCE AND THRONE
Nice, no? Adoration following the 9 am Mass and all day, Tuesday through Thursday:
I WONDER ABOUT THE VERACITY OF THIS TO BEGIN WITH AND THE SUBSEQUENT NEWS OF THIS REPORT POSTED BY RORATE CAELI…
What do you think and maybe this might bode well for the next conclave if true?????
Cardinals block appointment of Heiner Wilmer as Prefect of the DDF
HOLY FAMILY CHURCH, HILTON HEAD, TWIN, THE CATHEDRAL OF SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOLOYA, PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA
It has to be the same architect. I think it has been enhanced since I went to a Sunday Mass there in the late 1990’s or early 2000’s. It was so bad, that for me to have stayed would have been a mortal sin as I got so angry. It had to do with the pomposity of the choir, their public showmanship, exaggerated accompaniment, and introducing everyone by name who had a part in the production before the Mass began. I stayed through the homily and then departed very angry.
God willing, they have reformed their pompous liturgies and triumphant music ministry with its showmanship!
But, I guess this could be accomplished at Holy Family, but of course it would be expensive:
This was sung at Easter Sunday Mass there and, yes, there is applause afterward which tells you that the music ministry there is about entertaining and receiving accolades.
APPLAUSE AT THE END OF A LITURGICAL ANTHEM DURING MASS SHOULD BE ANATHEMA!
GIVE HOLY FAMILY CHURCH A BREAK!
Holy Family Church on Hilton Head Island was completed in 1988. You can read its history/story HERE.
The sculpture pictured above, was originally above the altar, not the crucifix. It is now located in the parish hall, the original church.
Holy Family is a victim of the 1980’s wild architecture and it has a twin, the Cathedral of Palm Beach, Florida.
Fr. McCaffrey the deceased eccentric pastor, borrowing on the trends of 1980’s Catholic architecture, added his own eccentricities to the church.
The organ was designed to be where it is and is a very fine pipe organ. The original colors were meant to mimic the nearby beach (two blocks up the road). The original carpeting in the nave and under the pews was blue to resemble the ocean. The sanctuary (altar area) had beige carpeting to mimic the beach. Then you have the barque of Peter above the altar where the now humongous crucifix is.
The ambo was meant to mimic the bow of a ship.
The tabernacle was to the extreme left of the altar as a private chapel.
The Church does need refreshment and refurbishment. The crucifix was an attempt at that. The tabernacle was placed directly behind the altar.
But it is what it is and there isn’t much that can be done to change it. It just needs refreshment and some re-enchantment. The church can seat comfortably 1,200 people. If standing, maybe 2,000. At the peak of summer tourism, it is packed.
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
OH MY!
I know we all have our particular tastes. But it seems to me that liturgical decorations and paint colors should try to placate the masses not inflame them.
This is a beautiful Church and it is nice. Some may love it. But the colors behind and above the altar are simply too harsh, too loud and too overpowering. Muted colors would have helped. Or maybe the side chapels should have had a more mellow color on the walls.
What say you?
O MY! DO YOU THINK CARDINAL NICHOLS COULD HAVE COME UP WTH A BETTER APOLOGETIC, LIKE GIVING OFFENSE TO GOD AND GOD’S PEOPLE, NOT TO MENTION THE WORD OF GOD, SACRED TRADITION AND DIVINE TRUTH?
WELL, AT LEAST THE GOOD CARDINAL CONDEMNS IT, BUT JUST BECAUSE OF RITUAL? WHERE DOES GOD FIT INTO THIS SECULAR LAMENT?
This is from LaCroix:
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the United Kingdom's most senior Catholic cleric, has criticized the rendering of the traditional "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" Christmas carol to include women and queer persons.
"I think what Christmas does, and many other moments, it tells us the importance of ritual. Ritual helps us to step outside of our own little bubble and connect with something we have received, inherited and that we hope to pass on. Those values are the continuation of musical repertoire, of the ability to sing together, of looking at the rituals that have been fashioned over centuries, Those are probably for me more important than particular sensitivities which come and go," the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster told Times Radio.
Cardinal Nichols comments came after a recent Church of England carol service at the All Saints with Holy Trinity Church in Loughborough, Leicestershire, updated verses of the 17th-century carol to include the lines "God rest you also, women, who by men have been erased/ Through history ignored and scored, defiled and displaced/ Remember that your stories too, are held within God's grace" and "God rest you, queer and questioning, your anxious hearts be still/ Believe that you are deeply known and part of God's good will/ For all to live as one in peace; the global dream fulfilled." This version, which was written by an American minister Jeffrey Wilsor was previously used by the Hollywood United Methodist Church
OH BROTHER! OR SHOULD I SAY, OH FATHER, FATHER THOMAS REESE, AN AGING PRIEST
FATHER REESE, SJ, JOTS DOWN THE DOTS BUT HE CAN’T CONNECT THEM. READ HIS INTERESTING COMMENTARY BY PRESSING THE TITLE FROM THE NCR:
Conservatives can win the debate over Vatican II only by ignoring history
Father Reese makes a good case, and in his case, he can’t connect the dots which he has made. He’s a Jesuit, so let’s give him a pass, an aging one at that. Don’t accuse me of ageism as I am aging too.
He says that there are very few people left who remember Vatican II or remember the controversies afterward or were excited about what the Council wrought. They are close to death or have died.
But Reese can’t connect the dots. No one today is excited about Vatican II. They don’t remember it and could care less about it. They have other things to worry about.
While Reese points out what the Council changed and opened the Church to further more radical change, and he sees this as a plus, he fails to connect the dots to this and the fact that in many European countries less than 5% of the laity attend Mass and of those who do attend Mass, they want women priests (or non-binary people in various forms of wedlock) or no marriage at all, simply living together in various fashions will do.
Reese cannot connect the dots of the reformed Mass and its adherents who for the most part are heterodox and want a non-Catholic, non-Christian religion especially as it regards sex, birth control and abortion.
Yes, Fr. Reese spells is out but he can’t connect the dots.
No one today is excited about Vatican II and they are not excited about the synodal way, except those who are heterodox and there ain’t many of them either.
THE RE-ENCHANTMENT OF THE MODERN MISSAL’S INTRODUCTORY RITE, OFFERTORY, COMMUNION RITE AND DISMISSAL
The Modern Missal is used as is, except with these renewal in continuity changes:
INTRODUCTORY RITE
After the prescribed Entrance Chant (Introit) The priest at the foot of the altar begins with the Sign of the Cross and then:
P. I will go unto the altar of the Lord.
℟ To God, who gives joy to my soul.
℣Our help is in the Name of the Lord.
℟ Who made Heaven and earth.
I confess to almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to all the Saints, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts, in my words, and in what I have done, and what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore, I ask blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, all the Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
P. May almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and bring you to everlasting life.
P. May the almighty and merciful Lord grant us forgiveness, absolu- tion, and the remission of our sins.
Amen.
(Priest privately prays as he ascends the altar)
Take away from us, we beg, O Lord, our iniquities so that with pure minds we might merit to en- ter into your Holy of Holies. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(The priest kisses the altar saying privately)
We pray to you, O Lord, through the merits of your Saints whose relics are here, and all the Saints, that you might deign to forgive all my sins.
The Kyrie
The Gloria
The Lord be with you.
And with your Spirit.
The Collect
THE OFFERTORY
The offering of the bread:
Accept, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, this immaculate vic- tim, which I, your unworthy ser- vant, offer to you, my God, living and true, for my uncountable sins, offenses, and omissions and for all those who are standing here but also for all faithful Christians li- ving and dead, that it may effec- tively gain for me and for them salvation and eternal life. Amen.
The Offering of the Wine:
We offer to you, O Lord, this chalice of salvation, begging your cle- mency, that, in the sight of your divine majesty, it may rise up with the odor of sweetness for our salvation and that of the whole world. Amen.
After:
With humble spirit and contrite heart may we be accepted by you, O Lord, and may our sacrifice in your sight this day be pleasing to you, Lord God.
Come, O Sanctifier, almighty and eternal God, and bless this sacrifice + prepared for the honor of your holy name.
After washing his hands, bowing at the middle of the altar:
Receive O holy Trinity, this oblation, which we offer to you in memory of the passion, resurrection,and ascension of Jesus Christ our Lord and for the honor of blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed John the Baptist, and the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, of these and all the saints, that it might bring them ho- nor and us salvation and that they whose memory we recall on earth might deign to intercede for us in Heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Then turning to the nave, the priest says:
Pray brethren, that my sacrifice…..
All: May the Lord….
THE RITE OF HOLY COMMUNION
After the “Our Father”
P. Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, past, present, and future, and, by the intercession of the blessed and glorious Mary ever Virgin, the Mother of God, with your Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and Andrew, and all the Saints, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress.
The priest fractions the Host saying
Through the same Christ our Lord, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever.
Holding a Fragment of the host over the chalice and making the Sign of the Cross three times,the priest says:
The peace of the Lord be with you.
All: And with your Spirit.
The priest co-mingles the Host with the Precious Blood saying quietly:
May this mingling and consecration of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive it. Amen.
The Lamb of God
After the Lamb of God and bowing at the center of the altar with folded hands on the altar:
Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles, Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, look not on my sins, but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance wi- th your will. Who live and reign, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Then quietly the priest prays:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the li- ving God, who by the will of the Father and the work of the Holy Spirit, through your Death gave life to the world; free me by this, your most holy Body and Blood, from all my sins and from every evil; keep me always faithful to your commandments, and never let me be parted from you, who with the same God the Father and the Holy Spirit live and reign, God for ever and ever. Amen.
May the receiving of your Body and Blood, Lord Jesus Christ, not bring me to judgment and condemnation, but through your loving mercy be for me protection in mind and body, and a healing remedy, who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
The priest genuflects and says:
I will take the bread from Heaven and call on the name of the Lord.
Then turning to the congregation with the fractured Host above the chalice, the priest says:
“Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him…
Then all say three times:
Lord, I am not worthy….
The priest turns back to the altar for his Holy Communion:
May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ keep my soul safe for eternal life. Amen.
Then gathering any fragments of the host on the purificator with the paten, the priest places those in the chalice as he says:
What repayment shall I make to the Lord for everything which he has given me? I will take the chalice of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. Praising him, I will call upon the Lord, and I will be saved from my enemies.
Then taking the chalice he says and then drinks:
May the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ keep my soul safe for eternal life. Amen.
Then the priest distributes Holy Communion to the Faithful with these words and their response “Amen”.
May the body of our Lord Jesus Christ keep your soul safe for eternal life.
After Holy Communion the priest purifies the vessels with these words:
What has passed our lips as food, O Lord, may we possess in purity of heart, that what has been given to us in time may be our healing for eternity.
May your Body, O Lord, which I have eaten, and your Blood, which I have drunk, stick to my innards, and grant that in me, whom your pure and holy Sacraments have made new, there may not remain the stain of sins, who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.
Then after the prayer after Holy Communion, the priest goes to the center of the altar, kisses it and turns to the faithful say:
Go in peace.
All: Thanks be to God.
Then the priest faces the altar, bowing and prays quietly:
May the offering of my service please you, O holy Trinity, and grant that this sacrifice which I, though unworthy, have offered before the eyes of your majesty, may be acceptable to you, and that, by your mercy, it may atone for me and for all those for whom I have offered it. Through Christ Our Lord.
Then the priest turns to the faithful and offers the Final Blessing.
Then the priest recesses with the other ministers.
Monday, December 26, 2022
PERHAPS THE MODERN MASS AND ITS GENERAL INSTRUCTION NEEDS TO GIVE LAWS, NOT SUGGESTIONS, ON HOW TO DECORATE A SANCTUARY!
Christmas and Easter, by custom, allow for a lavish use of flowers and decorations. Weddings do too.
BUT!
Decorations should frame and highlight the altar, ambo, celebrant’s chair and the tabernacle. Decorations should not overwhelm these liturgical sacred objects, sacramentals.
St. Anne Church in Richmond Hill and St. Joseph in Macon, Georgia know this and use decorations to point to that which is important, not to point to themselves.
The crèche should never be placed directly in front of the altar and is best in a side chapel.
This should be anathema!:
Saint Joseph, Macon, exemplary decorating:
HOLY FAMILY CHURCH, HILTON HEAD ISLAND
I normally celebrate the 8 AM daily Mass on Monday and Tuesday at Holy Family Church. This is their Christmas look:
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