Sunday, December 8, 2019

HIGH ALTAR AT CATHEDRAL RISES FROM THE RUBBLE TODAY TO BECOME AN ALTAR AGAIN

When I was stationed at the Cathedral from 1985 to 1991 as the associate pastor, as we were called back then, rather than parochial vicar, I was not in favor of the return of the Latin Mass or even having some of the Mass in Latin. Bishop Lessard encouraged me to make sure we used the Jubilatio Deo Mass parts in Latin at the Cathedral's 10 AM Mass which featured the men's choir.

I told him no one sings it and we have so many tourists at Mass that they are perplexed too.

In addition to that, Bishop Lessard consulted with the chancery staff at the time, of which I was a part as Diocesan Director of Liturgy, if we should implement Pope John Paul's liberalization of the use of the Tridentine Mass. I was opposed to it. I said, why don't we just do the "new" Mass in Latin and ad orientem, wouldn't that be enough????

Flash forward to 2007 and I am all in favor of the EF Mass being celebrated has Pope Benedict indicated in Summorum Pontificum.

Flash forward to 2016 and I start celebrating the Cathedral's EF Mass once a month on a rotating basis.

Flash forward to December 8, 2019 and I am the priest-celebrant of the Solemn Form of the EF Mass with deacon and subdeaon and using the Cathedral's high altar for it, which hasn't been used for Mass in about 50 years or so.

The high altar, unfortunately, has become a flower and decoration pedestal and reredos for the new altar which is beautifully crafted and is exactly the same design and facade of the old high altar.

I will remember all those Cathedral bishops and priests who celebrated Mass at this high altar since the late 1800's. Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord. Requiem eternam.

Saturday, December 7, 2019

A SERIOUS QUESTION FOR CANON LAWYERS

When a Catholic wants to marry in the Church, we ask both parties if they have had any previous marriages.

If the Catholic had an illicit marriage outside the Church they must fill out a “lack of form” case that requires two witnesses.

Let’s say that either the female or the male contracted a “same sex civil marriage” but decided that they were actually heterosexual and divorced.

Now they present themselves for a Catholic marriage. Does the Catholic party have to fill out the “lack of form” paperwork to clear up any questionable and/or invalid marriage?

Inquiring minds want to know.

BEFORE AND AFTER, I JUST DON’T KNOW

Before and After: St. Francis of Assisi in Grapevine, Texas

by Shawn Tribeon November 25, 2019

St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church in Grapevine, Texas

Gardiner-Hall Associates

BEFORE:

AFTER:

A closer look at the altars:

ALL REHEARSED AND READY FOR THE SOLEMN SUNG TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS AND FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE 1960’S, AT THE SAVANNAH CATHEDRAL’S HIGH ALTAR

SOLEMN SUNG MASS FOR THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AND SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT, 1 PM AT THE CATHEDRAL IN DOWNTOWN SAVANNAH, DECEMBER 8TH, 2019.

PROPER ORATIONS FOR THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Collect

Deus, qui per immaculátam Vírginis Conceptiónem dignum Fílio tuo habitáculum præparásti: quǽsumus; ut, qui ex morte eiúsdem Filii tui prævísa eam ab omni labe præservásti, nos quoque mundos eius intercessióne ad te perveníre concédas.

O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin didst prepare a fitting habitation for thy Son; grant, we beseech thee, that as thou preservedst her from all stain through the death foreseen of the same thy Son, so we too may through her intercession be purified and come to thee.

Secret

Salutárem hóstiam, quam in sollemnitáte immaculátæ Conceptiónis beátæ Vírginis Maríæ tibi, Dómine, offérimus, súscipe et præsta: ut, sicut illam tua grátia præveniénte ab omni labe immúnem profitémur; ita eius intercessióne a culpis ómnibus liberémur.

Receive, O Lord, the saving victim which we offer to thee in the festival of the Immaculate Conception of the blessed Virgin Mary : and grant that, even as we proclaim her to have been preserved by thy grace from every stain, so may we be delivered, by her intercession, from all our sins.

Postcommunion

Sacraménta quæ súmpsimus, Dómine, Deus noster: illíus in nobis culpæ vúlnera réparent; a qua immaculátam beátæ Maríæ Conceptiónem singuláriter præservásti.

May the sacraments which we have received, O Lord our God, heal in us the wounds of that sin from which thou didst by a singular privilege preserve the Immaculate Conception of the blessed Mary.

The Trinity and the Immaculate Conception, by Benvenuto Tisi da Garofalo, 1528-36. Prominent among the Doctors of the Church to either side of the Virgin Mary are Ss Augustine and Bernard on the left, Ss Ambrose and Jerome on the right.

COMMEMORATION OF THE 2^ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

This means that Sunday’s Mass will include two collects, two secrets, and two postcommunion prayers--the first (above) from the Mass of the Immaculate Conception, the second (below) from the Mass of the 2^nd Sunday of Advent (e.g., Angelus 143, Baronius 149, Campion 5). [So we sit for the Epistle only after the second collect.] Hence those with daily hand missals should set ribbons at both these Masses.

Collect

Excita, Dómine, corda nostra ad præparándas Unigéniti tui vias: ut, per eius advéntum, purificátis tibi méntibus servíre mereámur.

Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the ways of thine only-begotten Son : that through his coming we may be worthy to serve thee with purified minds.

Secret

Placáre, quǽsumus, Dómine, humilitátis nostræ précibus et hóstiis: et, ubi nulla suppétunt suffrágia meritórum, tuis nobis succúrre præsídiis.

Be appeased, we beseech thee, O Lord, by the prayers and sacrifices of our lowliness : and since we cannot plead any merits of our own, help us with thy protection.

Postcommunion

Repléti cibo spirituális alimóniæ, súpplices te, Dómine, deprecámur: ut, huius participatióne mystérii, dóceas nos terréna despícere et amáre cœléstia.

Replenished with the bread of spiritual nourishment, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord, that through our participation in this mystery thou wouldst teach us to despise the things of earth and to love those of heaven.

JUST WHAT CAN WE LICITLY GET AWAY WITH IN “RE-ENCHANTING” THE DEFORMED ASPECTS OF THE REFORMED MASS?

Praytell loves calling the Extraordinary Form Mass the unreformed Mass. But the Ordinary Form Mass has experienced some additional reforms and more might come even if, as progressives like, it has to take place from the grassroots level. Then we could call the reformed Mass as it is mostly celebrated the unreformed Mass too when others reform it for the better.

What can we licitly do? Fr. Fox and John Nolan have a give and take and I like what John Nolan will experience on Sunday in London.

In addition to what John Nolan will experience, couldn’t the priest and ministers also include in their procession to the altar the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar whilst the processional hymn is chanted or even the longer, traditional form of the Introit. What would be wrong with that? Absolutely nothing!

——-

Fr Martin Fox said...

John Nolan:

If more elements of the older tradition find their way into the ordinary form of the Mass and sacraments and other rituals, I will be very happy. But I grew up in a time when so many priests took it upon themselves to re-work the the rubrics as they saw fit. I do not want to emulate them. So I await these things coming down a more licit path.

December 5, 2019 at 1:16 PM

John Nolan said...

Fr Fox

That's understandable, but you will be waiting a long time. 'Elements of the older tradition' won't mysteriously find their way into the Novus Ordo; they have to be put there as a result of choice, and choice is almost a defining feature of Paul VI's Mass.

The Solemn Mass I shall attend tomorrow will be in the new Rite, but, as on every Sunday, will take the following form. All the choices are entirely licit.
a) It is sung in Latin, with the traditional orientation (ad apsidem). The three Scripture readings and the Bidding Prayers are in English.
b) The celebrant is assisted by two sacred ministers who take the roles of deacon and 'subdeacon'.
c) The Mass is preceded by the Asperges in its older form, with the traditional versicles, responses and oratio.
d) The first option for the Penitential Act is invariably used. Although the opening and concluding rites are at the chair, the sedilia are arranged traditionally (not in front of the altar or tabernacle, and not facing the people).
e) The Gregorian Propers from the 1974 Graduale Romanum (Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Communio) are used.
f) The Roman Canon is invariably used, recited audibly and following the Novus Ordo rubrics.
g) There is a simple chant setting of the Agnus Dei at the Fraction; the polyphonic Agnus is sung during the people's Communion.
h) Communion is kneeling at the rail, in one kind only.
i) There is a recessional hymn, but the congregation 'say or sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them'. This includes the responses, the Confiteor, the Credo and the Pater Noster.

The first reading is done by a lay person, but there are no EMHC and service at the altar is reserved to males.

In a sense, the most traditional element in this form of Mass is the fact that although the Propers change, the Ordinary by and large does not.

Friday, December 6, 2019

DON'T HANG OUT YOUR DIRTY LAUNDRY

One of the hallmarks or perhaps little "t" traditions of the Catholic Church was/is "not giving scandal." The Church did not want people to be scandalized by the bad actions of others, be they clergy or laity.

Today, this concern for keeping deeds of darkness secret in order not to give scandal to others is called "cover-up."

We live in the information age and the age of fake-news because information flows so freely and news is now, more or less, gossip, innuendo and what ifs.

As it concerns clergy scandals, yes, the criteria was to keep people quiet so as not to scandalize the faithful and damage their faith. Unfortunately, this lack of transparency led to serial abuse by some of the most criminal minds in the clergy.

What was your experience within your own family about giving public bad example or spreading news about scandalous behavior of family members and others and your own thoughts on not airing your dirty laundry in families as well as the Church?

MORE SPECULATION AND MORE CHURCH POLITICS AND RANK AND FILE CLERGY AND LAITY TWIST AND TURN

Wouldn’t it be better for the Vatican to come clean on its canonization processes today?

And what is the point of a beatification? And why are these now local rather than at the Vatican? Why not just skip beatification after one is named venerable and go directly to canonization and at the Vatican?

PRESS TITLE FOR ARTICLE:

While Embarrassing, Sheen Beatification Delay Could Turn Out Well

Father Raymond J. de Souza

This presentation by Venerable Sheen tells us much about the Church of the 1970 and her issues then. These same issues have arisen again from a nostalgia for the 70’s by very aging clergy whose heyday was then.

After warming up his audience with some humor. Venerable Sheen offers an excellent presentation on the diabolical:

Thursday, December 5, 2019

FROM THE JUST TOO KOOL FILE AND A MODERN DAY BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

An eight foot alligator 🐊 in Bluffton, SC, the community before Hilton Head Island, stole a young man’s iPhone and as he went back in the water, took a photograph of his victim standing on the bank of the lagoon watching the thief escape, a photographer alligator!!!!

Eventually the alligator let the iPhone go, the guy scared the alligator away and retrieved his phone. He discovered a total of four photos the alligator had taken from his mouth showing the world what it is like being swallowed by an alligator and the last thing the victim sees! Kool, no?

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

JUST WHAT IS WRONG WITH KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE AT AN EXTRAORDINARY FORM SOLEMN SUNG MASS ON DECEMBER 8TH, THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AS WELL AS THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT?

On December 8th, yours truly will be the celebrant for the Cathedral's EF 1 PM Mass which will celebrate, praise God, both the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the Second Sunday of Advent.

What will be extraordinarily special about this Mass is that it will be the first (as far as I know, and I should be corrected by those in the know) Solemn Sung Mass since the mandated reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the late 1960's.

In addition to this, the Cathedral's High Altar will be used which I don't think has been used for any Mass since the faux altar was installed around 1966, a horrid wooden structure below the high altar, in front which I was ordained in 1980 with two others.

The Deacon for the Mass will be Father Jean-Luke OSB and the Sub-Deacon will be Father Patrick May, newly ordained priest for our diocese. I suggested to him that he would make a great below par deacon. Dr. Felix Maher will be the MC.

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE, LAFAYETTE SQUARE THAT IS.

THERE’S GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY TO GET RID OF MALIGNANT BISHOPS, PRIESTS AND DEACONS AND TRANSPARENCY IS THY NAME

Buffalo’s bishop resigned today after more than a year of complete turmoil in his diocese and the form of clericalism that allows a bishop to remain while this turmoil is ongoing.

Since there is absolutely no local (diocesan or parish) mechanism to have a set board that would evaluate a situation that has become untenable, others fill the void and create even more chaos.

While I am not in favor of Congregationalist way of hiring and firing pastors, perhaps the Church would do well to examine how Episcopalians and Methodists do it in this country. In the Episcopal Church, there is a Vestry that has some legitimate power in dealing with their rectors and asking the bishop to remove him.

Perhaps the same is needed on the Diocesan level, that a vestry of sorts meets to decide the fate of a divisive bishop or submitting their recommendation to the Pope through the papal nuncio. Of course there must be canons governing all of this and ways to avoid the politicalization the the clergy verses the laity.

Of course canon law states the “rights” of pastors and bishops. This would seem to help safeguard purely evil intentions of vestries.

One other note concerning transparency. Why in the name of God and all that is holy didn’t the papal nuncio or even the pope himself state why Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s beatification has been postponed some 17 days before it was to occur in Peoria?

The Vatican needs to come clean on this, tell us who voiced concerns and what these concerns are as all of this is going to come out one way or another. The Vatican needs to be on top of this and nip speculation and gossip in the bud by being TRANSPARENT!

And while they are working at transparency, let’s also see the secret file on Mr. McCarrick and his enablers in this country and elsewhere even if it goes to the Bishop of Rome, whichever one you wish to choose.

Monday, December 2, 2019

IN ADDITION TO ALL THE SILLY HETERODOX THINGS HAPPENING IN THE CHURCH THESE PAST SIX YEARS, AN IDEOLOGY OF PASTORAL THEOLOGY THAT PANDERS TO CULTURAL MOVEMENTS WILL ALSO BE A PART OF THE MIX OF A NEW GREAT SCHISM IN THE CHURCH

Pastoral theology that panders to various great cultural movements that oppose Catholic morality as well as natural law, is but one more ingredient in the on-going schism between orthodox Catholicism and Heterodox Catholicism. Let's just call it for now, The Great Catholic Polarization.

This LifeSite news article with Archbishop Vigano's take on a recent Austrian event in its storied Vienna Cathedral, illustrates pastoral pandering of the heterodox that drives orthodox Catholics to the brink:

Abp Viganò condemns pro-‘LGBT’ concert in Vienna cathedral as ‘blasphemous’

Dec 1, 4:39 pm

Sunday, December 1, 2019

THANK GOD FOR THE INTERNET BECAUSE HOW ELSE CAN WE GET NEWS LIKE THIS?

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE IMPOSITION OF THE ORDINARY FORM AND THE SUPPRESSION OF THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM

The lack of sound seems to be a Vatican glitch as there is no sound at the Vatican YouTube station for this video? Maybe showing a preference for a quiet low voice Mass?

THIS IS RATHER BIZARRE, NO?

Dispute ideas, pope tells theologians, but don’t confuse the faithful

Cindy Wooden
Nov 30, 2019
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY - Theologians must explore and debate disputed questions, at times even taking “risks” with what they propose, but those discussions should take place within the academy so as not to confuse the faithful, Pope Francis said.

“Theology must move forward,” the pope told members of the International Theological Commission. “It must face things that are not clear and take risks in discussion. However, this is among theologians.”

“You must give the solid food of faith to the people of God, not feed the people of God disputed questions,” because that could confuse them and cause them to lose their faith, the pope told the group Nov. 29 during a meeting celebrating the commission’s 50th anniversary.

Read the rest at Crux. What do you make of it?

Saturday, November 30, 2019

IF YOU THINK THE PAST 50 YEARS IN THE CHURCH AND HER LITURGICAL LIFE HAS BEEN A SUCCESS STORY OR A NEW SPRINGTIME OF RENEWAL, I WOULD HATE TO SEE WHAT AN UNSUCESSFUL WINTERTIME WOULD LOOK LIKE

This is copied from Rorate Caeli who copies it from the New York Daily News who had a Rorate Caeli contributer write it, but I digress:

NY Daily News Op-Ed -Pining for the Latin Mass: Reflecting on major changes to the Catholic liturgy, 50 years later

By our own contributor Kenneth Wolfe:

Pining for the Latin Mass: Reflecting on major changes to the Catholic liturgy, 50 years later

By KENNETH J. WOLFE

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

NOV 30, 2019 | 5:00 AM

Fifty years ago this weekend, the Catholic Church debuted a new version of Mass following reforms made by the 1960s’ Second Vatican Council. From the use of vernacular language instead of Latin, to the priest facing the people instead of the tabernacle, the changes became mandatory at all parishes on the First Sunday of Advent 1969.

I post below a speech Cardinal Cupich gave in early November. It is just one more "mea culpa" that so many are making for the lack of proper oversight of bishops as it regards rank and file clergy and no oversight of bishops given to debaucery in their dioceses.

Yet preventing abuse now and in the future is what is even more important and I think the Church has made some inroads into that but not uniformly from diocese to diocese.

A blessing in disguise is the knocking off of the pedestal the high esteeem Catholics had for priests prior to Vatican II simply because the priest had answered a call from God to serve the Church in this capacity.

Many superficial presumptions were made that the priest could do no wrong in the sexual area because of his promise/vow to celibate chastity. Thus a priest could be trusted with parent's children because he had no sexual desire for them, especially boys, because all presumed that priests were heterosexual albeit eunuchs.

But because the benefit of heterosexuality was given to priests, most rank and file laity prior to Vatican II knew that it was inappropriate to tempt priests by women and girls dressing immodestly or creating situations where a priest might fall.

Parents would never entrust their girls to priests to spend time with as they would with their boys. This certainly opened the door of temptation and actual sin when the priest realized his dark fantasies could be fulfilled with children of trusting parents, naive parents and parents who thought a priest would do no wrong in the sexual area especially with children, boys in particular.

While we are doing a examination of the consciences of bishops and priests in authority who did little or nothing to stop abusive priests, maybe because of naïveté or even callousness, it is now the time too to expand this to parents who did not recognize abusive priests they invited into their homes and where abuse took place right under their nose and because of this aura of sanctity and morality that priests had from their pedestal.

So much of the abuse was unwittingly enabled by parents that allowed their boys to spend a great deal of time with priests alone and sometimes were glad that the priest took their boys on overnight camping trips or even extended vacations. Sleep overs in the rectory as a form of baby-sitting were not even suspect.

And yes, many boys were abused in the homes of their parents by parents who invited their priest, sometimes those they considered good friends, to spend time with the family and alone time with their children.

This mentality of both bishops and laity and other priests one would hope has come to an end. Am I naive in thinking that it has? Would one think so, given the widespread use of programs like "virtus" that train both clergy and laity to recognize what can lead to abuse?

Cardinal Cupich: How can we end clerical sex abuse and purify the church?

CHICAGO (IL)
America Magazine
November 29, 2019
By Cardinal Blase J.

Editor’s note: This article is based on a talk delivered by Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, at the Latin American Congress on the Prevention of Child Abuse in the Catholic Church, held at the Pontifical University of Mexico on Nov. 8, 2019.
One day, a man in his mid-50s came to my office and shared the painful story of being sexually abused by his pastor. He started serving Mass when he was 9 years old, and the pastor always asked him to stay afterward to tidy up the sacristy. One day the priest took him to the basement and sexually abused him. He did this every Sunday over four years. After abusing him, the priest would walk the boy home and have dinner with the boy’s family. Adding another demonic layer of pain to the sexual abuse itself, each Saturday the priest would drive the boy to another town and force him to confess his supposed sins to another priest. Finally, the boy had the courage to tell his father, and the abuse stopped. Seeing the suffering in this victim-survivor’s eyes, witnessing his courage in sharing this horrible experience with me, I knew I had to act.

A BACK HANDED COMPLIMENT OR TALKING THE SIGN OF PEACE FROM BOTH SIDES OF EACH HAND

Since we are talking the Sign of Peace, I won't use the euphemisms that most in the know call the blog Praytell, but this is what Deacon Fritz writes about the Sign of Peace:

It is worth noting that this is a practice that, in its current form of a handshake accompanied by a verbal wishing of peace, is a largely modern invention, an attempt by the modern liturgical movement to recreate something like the early Christian Kiss of Peace. Those who deride modern liturgies as “fabricated” might present the Sign of Peace as Exhibit A, since it is not something that arose from popular practice and has at best an indirect connection to historic practice. But whatever its provenance, the Sign of Peace seems to have become in the popular imagination a distinctively Christian and Catholic ritual, no less than veiled nuns and altar boys ringing bells. It is one of those weird things that Christians do.

Read the rest there:

The Sign of Peace and Popular Culture

November 29, 2019 Deacon Fritz Bauerschmidt

Friday, November 29, 2019

BECAUSE OF ADAM AND EVE, WE LIVE IN A DISORDERED WORLD WITH EVERY HUMAN BEING WHO IS DISORDERED IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, COME MORE SERIOUSLY SO, AND WE NEED TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS AND WE NEED A SAVIOR! OH, WE CATHOLICS HAVE ONE AND ONLY ONE, JESUS CHRIST!

The abuse of minors and other vulnerable people takes place not only in closed systems like Churches, public schools and yes, families, but also in open systems that can be progressive, conservative or anything else in Between.

Because of Original sin, which leads to actual sin, we live in a disordered world where every aspec of human life and the human person can be disordered, depraved, perverted, and unnatural.

In this world we need laws, both in and outside the Church to protect individuals and communities. It doesn't help that Pope Francis' 1970's religious ideologies leads him to call those who support canon law and stronger sanctions against those who break these, "doctors of the law," a derogatory statement against rules and regulations and laws of the pre-Vatican II Church and her adherents where following rigid rules and being rigid about morality was a hallmark of pre-Vatican II clerical, religioius and lay life. It (name calling) is in and of itself an abuse, spiritual abuse, when directed towards religious people and Pope Francis has made name calling a humorous art, but there isn't anything really funny about it.

I have three long articles below, but the first one by Cardinal Schonborn is the most interesting. But it is one sided and maybe the Austrian experience is different than the American one where an outside firm discovered that the peak of the sexual abuse crisis in the USA was 1974, post Vatican II whereas Schonborn says in Austria it was prior to Vatican II.

Yes, clergy formed prior to Vatican II in this country which respected law and order both in society and the church, were the ones guilty of sexual abuse in 1974. But what had happened with the sexual and cultural revolution of the 1960's in this country, respect for communal laws and rules and a rule of life both in secular and religious institutions collapsed giving clergy who needed these laws to keep them in check free reign with their sexual disorders.

And yes, part of the problem today from the Vatican to local dioceses is the refusal to name immaturity as it concerns homosexuality and Catholic priests as one of the culprits in the Catholics Church were more minor males are abused than females. The opposite is true in relgious traditions with married clergy, where females are in the majority of those abused. In other words, you can't take anything off the table when trying to find solutions to this scandal and curse and ways to protect the young and vulnerable.

The Jesuits have had some very significant scandals in high places in this regard, a very progressive order. So we need to point this out to Cardinal Schonborn too!

Schönborn spells out shocking reality of clerical sex abuse

LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Tablet

Belgian Salesians defend decision to send convicted pedophile to Africa

OXFORD (ENGLAND)
Catholic News Service via National Catholic Reporter

Anglican church founder abused trainee priests & other young men

Patheos blog
Nov. 28, 2019
By Barry Duke

THIS IS A DOG ON GOOD FOUR MINUTE COMMERCIAL!

This isn't an in your face 4 something minutes advertisement for a cable/media giant and it tugs at your heartstrings. It is a very well done mini movie for those of us with short attention spans. I remember when ET first debuted, a priest in our diocese characterize ET as a Christ-Figure, and specifically a Sacred Heart-like Christ-Figure: