HOLY FATHER, POPE LEO XIV, PLEASE FIX THE RUBRICS OF THE ROMAN MISSAL PROMULGATED BY SAINTS AND POPES PAUL VI AND JOHN PAUL II

 In the post below this one, I post Pope Leo’s brief letter about liturgical formation.

Here is one pertinent part of that brief letter:

Moreover, in order to promote the dignified celebration of the sacred mysteries, we must emphasize the need for fidelity to the approved texts and instructions. In my recent catecheseson the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, I have called attention to the respect that all those called to prepare the celebration of the divine mysteries, and priests in particular, must show toward the rites promulgated by Pope Saint Paul VI and Pope Saint John Paul II. It is vital that this respect “springs from an inner attitude of openness and trust in God, manifesting humility before his greatness and sincere fidelity to ecclesial communion” (Catechesis, 27 May 2026).

My common sense comments:

A major part of the problem with the modern Roman Missal is ad libbing by the priest or bishop, and in some cases the deacon. Eliminate from the rubrics, “in these or similar words!”

Eliminate all the options, especially ad libbing the troped Penitential Act—just allow the Confiteor, absolution and Kyrie and the stand alone Kyrie never omitted!

Clean up the General Instruction of the Roman Missal which says it is permissible to omit the Introit, offertory and Communion antiphons by substituting something similar, whatever that means. 

Eliminate some of the too many approved Eucharistic Prayers. Just have the first three and recommend the Roman Canon for Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation.

Leave it to local pastors to decide when and at which Mass ad orientem is celebrated along with kneeling for Holy Communion—do not micro manage these options!

And please, please, please forbid bishops and priests from turning the Introductory Rite into a blab session of welcomes and chatting and mini-homilies or announcements and no secular greetings please, please, please!!!!!

PROPER LITURGICAL FORMATION OF PRIESTS, AND I WOULD ADD, BISHOPS TOO!

 This will definitely prevent liturgical abuse by bishops, priests, deacons and laity—where every Mass depends on who is celebrating it!

As I am retired and celebrate Holy Mass in a variety of places, the sacristans always ask me, “Father, how do you celebrate Mass?” And I say, “by the book!” And they say, “every priest celebrates Holy Mass their own way!”

So I am glad these strong words will put an end to all of this:

LETTER OF THE HOLY FATHER LEO XIV

TO H.E. CARD. ARTHUR ROCHE 
ON THE OCCASION OF THE LITURGICAL CONFERENCE
AT MOUNT ANGEL ABBEY

[Mount Angel Abbey (Oregon, USA)]

[Multimedia]

___________________________________

To His Eminence
Cardinal Arthur Roche
Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship
and the Discipline of the Sacraments

I send cordial greetings to you and to all those gathered at Mount Angel Abbey in Oregon as you discuss the important topic of the liturgical formation of God’s people.

In his Apostolic Letter Desiderio Desideravi, which described the beauty of the liturgy’s theological and spiritual depth, Pope Francis emphasized the need for an attentive and ongoing formation of clergy and laity alike in revitalizing the liturgical life of the universal Church (cf. no. 38). He later reminded us that this kind of formation “is not a specialization for a few experts, but rather an inner disposition of all the People of God” (Address to the Participants in the Plenary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 8 February 2024). I would therefore encourage you to explore concrete paths for liturgical formation at every level in the Body of Christ. At the same time, we must “not exclude a priority in the formation of those, who, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, are called to be mystagogues, that is, to take the faithful by the hand and accompany them in their knowledge of the holy mysteries” (ibid.).

The first practical opportunities for liturgical formation occur in our regular practice of gathering every Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist. These celebrations are anchored in the annual rhythm of the liturgical year, with the Paschal Mystery at its center. For this reason, it is essential that they also be profoundly formative, promoting an ever deeper understanding of the ars celebrandi, expressed not only by the celebrant of the liturgy, but also by the entire assembly (cf. Desiderio Desideravi, n. 54). In this way, through proper education and reverent worship, Catholics will be formed both for the liturgy and by the liturgy (cf. ibid., n. 34).

Moreover, in order to promote the dignified celebration of the sacred mysteries, we must emphasize the need for fidelity to the approved texts and instructions. In my recent catecheseson the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, I have called attention to the respect that all those called to prepare the celebration of the divine mysteries, and priests in particular, must show toward the rites promulgated by Pope Saint Paul VI and Pope Saint John Paul II. It is vital that this respect “springs from an inner attitude of openness and trust in God, manifesting humility before his greatness and sincere fidelity to ecclesial communion” (Catechesis, 27 May 2026).

With these sentiments, I entrust your deliberations to Mary, Seat of Wisdom, and I willingly impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and all present at this gathering as a pledge of wisdom and peace in the Lord.

From the Vatican, 29 June 2026

LEO PP. XIV

If you wish to read an editorial commentary on this brief letter by Pope Leo XIV, you can do so at Sileri non possum HERE. 

WHERE-IN I DISAGREE WITH FR. Z…BUT NOT ENTIRELY…

 As everyone knows, I love both forms of the Latin Rite Mass as long as both are celebrated well, reverently and with actual participation of the priest and laity present. 

I believe the two forms can coexist and enrich the Church in their diversity, even their ecclesiological diversity. 

In red are some comments Fr. Z made about another article which you can read HERE. . However, I want to focus just on what Fr. Z is writing and not to what he is reacting. My comments are in black embedded in his reaction:

 [This is exactly the position of many diocesan bishops and others who think that people only want more “cow bell”, i.e., incense, ad orientem, lace, Latin, servers in cassocks, bells, a certain style of vestment, etc.  Hence, they should be perfectly content with the Novus Ordo dressed up in all those things.  This is wrong of course, but they are too ignorant of the differences in the rites to know that.] It is a grostesque mistake not to be in favor of the reform of the reformed Mass bringing back to it what was purged by Bishop Bugnini and his committee, ultimately approved by Pope Paul VI. If the Vetus Ordo can be reformed into something not resembling it, so too can the Novus Ordo be reformed into something not resembling its original. 

Most Catholics, who still practice their faith by Sunday Mass attendance, would have a problem with an all Latin Mass in the Vetus Ordo, but not a Modern Mass in the vernacular but looking like the Vetus Ordo—it would help to bring liturgical peace to the Church and avoid elitism of those who only want the Vetus Ordo and look down their noses at those who don’t want it and are as good of Catholics as any Vetus Ordo Catholic might or might not be!  

And most Catholics would not have a problem with an all vernacular TLM!

 [Liturgy is doctrine.  But if you oppose the Vetus and Novus you have to hold that the goal of the reform was blatant discontinuity.]  Yes, Fr. Z, we know both rites are different. The vernacular facilitates an inculturation that is good, using one’s language rather than a dead language, facilitates not only inculturation, but actual participation in the Mass, both contemplative and vocal of the laity. The NO Mass also illustrates not only that all must actually participate in the Mass, but that the laity also have role in the Church, particularly bringing our Faith and Good Works to the secular world of home, work and play as well as the public  political square. Thus laity taking on  liturgical ministries of acoyltle ( to include Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion) and reader makes visible the refined reality of the ecclesiology of the post-Vatican II Church. The TLM and other liturgies associated with it aren’t  wrong and also can include a more modern expression of ecclesiology by allowing lay lectors and active singing and speaking of the parts of the Mass by the laity. 

But the liturgy, Fr. Z, although doctrinal is more than a teaching tool! It is about worshipping Jesus Christ truly present in a sacrament way at the altar and in Holy Communion. While instruction is important, liturgy is spirituality, worship and experiencing in the present the eternal sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and His Glorified Risen Presence in the Liturgy and the Church. It is about the Risen Lord’s personal relationship with each Catholic individually and collectively! It is private and communal at the same time. It is about salvation! An atheist can know everything the Catholic Church teaches and remain an atheist, even if he loves the older Mass over the newer Mass. Knowledge of doctrine does not necessarily lead to conversion and a personal relationship with Christ Who transforms our life! 

METAPHORICALLY YOU CAN CALL THIS A CLOWN ORDINATION

 For the life of me, I do not know how the Novus Ordo lost the reverence and dignity of the Mass that it changed. I don’t think the intention was to turn any Mass, in particular an ordination Mass, into a kind entertainment with hooping and hollering. 

But this is what has happened. Pope Francis tried hard to suppress to the older Mass that Pope Benedict heroically liberated. 

But nonsense at Novus Ordo Masses like this one, a priestly ordination, go unchecked and is encouraged. Look at the priests applauding over and over again, and the people hooping and hollering. 

Is this dignity, devotion and awe and wonder? 

Watch the Facebook Video HERE.

THE CHURCH OF AMAZON, AND NOT THE ONE IN SOUTH AMERICA! GIVE THE CONSUMERS WHAT THEY WANT AND CALL IT LOVE DOING SO—THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONSUMERISM AND IT HAS CORRUPTED MANY CATHOLICS AND IN VERY HIGH PLACES…

 The National catholic Reporter , to their credit, stop publishing unfiltered comments on their on-line platform years ago. Why? Because this liberal rag of a newspaper had readers and commenters who were the most vile, unhinged and post-Catholics to be found on earth.

Now the NcR simply publishes two or three “letters to the editor” on their on-line publication but very rarely. 

The one I publish in full below captures the post-Catholic Vatican II Church. It is a Church that fears giving moral certitude to her members, refuses to offend the customer and wants to give the consumer what she/he/they/ them/ it wants. It, like the hippie rebels of the 1960’s, wants flower power, no rules, no laws, no regulations, no moralisms, just love, love, love.

This mentality is in politics today and is being captured by the young socialist democrats who want communism in this country, want to defund the police, get rid of prisons and open the borders like Spain recently did, which was eye-opening, to say the least. 

In this alternative post-Catholic Vatican II Church, without borders or punishments, anything goes, not just for funerals, but for any liturgy of the Church, for any lifestyle, for anything, EXCEPT, rigidity, clarity and the right direction to the narrow road of salvation. 

This post-Catholic Vatican II Church refashions herself based upon what the customer/consumer wants. And it embraces every want and desire out of a post-Catholic Vatican II understanding of that vague term which has a variety of definition. 

This is the kumbaya Church that many have derided ever since that song began to be the most popular Catholic hymn of the 1960’s. There are many my age and older and a few younger who are still banging that drum of Kumbaya! 

The Kumbaya Church, though, isn’t the true Church; it is an inversion of the true Church and it does not proclaim Christ Who is Divine Truth.

A letter to the Editor from the National catholic Reporter:

Illinois funeral restrictions

Reading the article about refusing same-day vigils and barring family eulogies, I ask one question: Where is the compassion for the family(NCR, July 30, 2026)? This is the kind of rigidity that sends families out the door. This attitude, by a handful of bishops, is an exercise of power and patriarchy. "Father knows best," even if technically correct, is an exercise of misplaced authority and in some cases, a mean-spirited attempt at dominance. 

As a professional Lay Minister who served as a Parish Director, I have been to hundreds of funerals. Every eulogy, good or less so, has one thing at its core: Love. Love is what our faith is all about. It is no sin to express it inelegantly. It is always of God, for God is love. Adhering to the letter of the law without compassion, mercy and understanding that love is what drives the eulogy, is a failure of the cleric to understand the true meaning of love.

Pope Francis spoke many times of mercy and welcoming. How sad that families, in their grief, will feel unwanted and unwelcome. Some people will not take kindly to these actions. More and more families are having funerals out of the church for a variety of reasons. Decisions such as these will only increase that trend.

JAN RUIDL
Oak Creek, Wisconsin

POPE LEO IS MAKING A PILGRIMAGE TO ARGENTINA! IT WAS NEVER CLEAR TO ME WHY POPE FRANCIS NEVER RETURNED TO HIS HOMELAND—ANY THIOUGHTS ON THAT?

 His Holiness is also visiting Florida. I guess that is somewhat close to South America, but the Press Office doesn’t say where in Florida. Jacksonville isn’t too far from Hilton Head Island, SC so I could drive there!

Declaration of the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, 05.08.2026

Having accepted the invitation of the Heads of State and ecclesiastical Authorities of the respective countries, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV will undertake an Apostolic Journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, from 6 to 17 November 2026.  His Holiness will visit Montevideo, Paysandú and Florida, from 6 to 8 November; Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Luján, from 8 to 11 November; and Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco and Pucallpa, from 11 to 17 November.

The itinerary for the Journey will be announced in due course.

IF ONLY, BUT WE LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD OF REALITY, NOT IF ONLY…

 Pope Benedict XVI famously said that those who had the greatest difficulty with the dumbing down of the Mass after Vatican II by Bishop Bugnini, but approved by Pope Paul VI, were those who had invested themselves into the New Liturgical Movement of the early 20th century, particularly in Europe. 

They actually prayed the Mass, were involved in chanting the chants and did not allow other devotions to replace their participation in the actual Mass. For these people, the changes to the Mass, especially the dumbing down of the Mass, was a real cross for them.

(Let me add my own pet peeve: It drives me crazy that at the TLM in Savannah and I presume elsewhere that Confessions are being heard at the same time as the Mass is being celebrated. And yes, a lot of people line up, during the Mass, mind you, to go to Confession and in fact they might even be in the Confessional during major parts of the Mass, like the Consecrations. This should be ANATHAMA! When at Mass, fully participate in the Mass, don’t be lining up for Confessions, or praying the Rosary or praying the Stations of the Cross!)

But those Catholics who were not as informed about the nature of the liturgy prior to Vatican II, allowed devotions to replace their actual participation in the Mass and refused to respond in any verbal or sung way at Mass, were pleased as punch with the new Mass, especially its vernacular, easy to sing hymns, relaxed reverence and emphasis on community rather than on God. They may have resisted at the beginning but eventually were won over by the new Mass and its oddities. 

Thus the liturgy wars began and rather quickly in the 1960’s. Those who want a conservative approach to the new Mass were a smaller group than those who wanted all the experimentation, especially with casualness, ugly, banal simplicity and new hymns of the folk and Broadway styles. 

An even smaller minority in the liturgical wars were those who wanted the old Mass to remain or at least be an option, because they understood it, participated in it in a actual way, both contemplative and active. 

I’ve often thought that if the new Mass had been designed and given rubrics for existing churches, meaning no changes to altars and other devotions designed into these older churches, that most people would truly think nothing really changed except that the Mass was now in the vernacular. 

There would be liturgical peace in the 1960’s and continuing to this day even if the TLM never had more widespread allowances in local parishes. 

AS I AM READING THE MUST READ "A LIBERAL REVOLUTION: THE IMPLEMENTATION OF VATICAN II IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BALTIMORE" I'VE GAINED NEW INSIGHTS INTO HOW THE CORRUPT CELEBRATION OF THE BUGNINI MASS CAME ABOUT AND WITHOUT TOO MANY CORRECTIONS

 I've really enjoyed reading    “A liberal Revolution: The implementation of Vatican II in the Archdiocese of Baltimore” as it has brought back so many memories of my time in Baltimore between 1976 and 1980. 

The author does describe my seminary and the influence it had not only on Baltimore but also the Church throughout the USA.

He describes the haphazard way the changes to the Mass came about. I wasn't in Baltimore at that time but a young teenager in Augusta and there are may  similarities.

We were basically cooked like frogs in a crockpot. The first changes I remember was the TLM facing the congregation with some vernacular, especially those spoken by the congregation. This was the 1964-65 Missal with only minor revisions.

We thought that was it.

Then by 1966, we were introduced to the PATFOTA being replaced by a Penitential Act, what may pastor called the shortening of the Mass, which everyone loved. Most loved the vernacular too, but it was still the TLM, basically.

Then, the Roman Canon was prayed out loud and in English--that was great, but it still had all the strict rubrics and rituals that now we could see as the priest faced us. 

Then, new Eucharistic Prayers were introduced maybe around 1968 and these stripped down the rubrics of those and even of the Roman Canon.

Then on the First Sunday of Advent, 1969, the new Roman Missal only in the vernacular (English) was introduced along with a new dumbed down English translation of the Mass. The new lectionary did not accompany it, so I am not sure how they adapted the TLM lectionary to the new "Sacramentary" but the new lectionary came a year or so later.

In that about 5 year period of chaotic changes and wondering when it would ever stop, most were glad that finally we had the new Roman Missal.  

I entered the seminary in 1976 only 6 years after the new Sacramentary and may 5 years after the new lectionary. At that point I could not really remember the TLM with which I grew up and experienced basically until 1966 or 67.

And most Catholics still going to Mass didn't realize that the Mass had changed that much--for them the biggest change was not  the Order of the Mass, but that the Mass was now in English, the vernacular. 

Let's fast forward to today. Some Catholics want only the old Latin Mass with its complex order. There would be mass rebellion of those, the majority still going to Mass, if the vernacular were taken away. They might deal well with some Latin but not the TLM with its lectionary. 

And the difference for them, really isn't the order and complex rubrics or even ad orientem--it is the Latin that they are glad is gone and that the Mass isn't as dour, i.e. reverent, as it is when in Latin and Latin chants--they love contemporary vernacular settings of the Mass and contemporary upbeat hymns and anthems. 

The majority today also love priest-celebrants who entertain them, and act like clowns during Mass or ad lib over and over again. 

Thus, in order to get back to what the Mass should be, we can't force the TLM on anyone but give in the Vernaculars we have, the Order and Rubics of the TLM as an addendum to the current Bugnini Roman Missal.

And that needs to be explained well to congregations who experience this. Then we might in 60 years recover what was lost by the poor implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium.  

THE NcR’S ARTICLE ON THE AFTERMATH OF THE FSSPX SCHISM IS FAIR AND BALANCED, GOOD FOR THE NcR—BUT LET ME RANT A BIT!

 I’ve written this before, but I think the hysteria about the FSSPX from the Vatican to local dioceses is overblown and so very unecumenical! 

The estimate about the number of Catholics in the USA going to FSSPX chapels either for Mass or actually joining this schismatic sect is about 25,000 Catholics.

Yet, no one is hysterical over the millions of Catholics in the USA who have joined non-denominational Protestant sects—-millions! 

WHAT’S UP WITH THAT????

At least the schismatic Catholics going to the FSSPX are in more full communion with the Church than the non-denominational schismatics and certainly the millions of Catholics who have become “nones!”

Let’s get real about this!

Read the NcR article by pressing the title:

After SSPX schism, some Catholics urge greater access to the older Latin Mass

POPE LEO MEETS WITH HIS NEW EWTN PREFECT FOR COMMUNICATIONS AT THE VATICAN—DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THIS GOOD NEWS

 For the orthodox Catholics in the Church, the naming of the EWTN COO, Dr. Maria Montserrat Alvarado, as the new Prefect for Communications in the Vatican should bring great joy and relief. 

For the heterodox, it would be like hiring Thomas C Fox, Editor Emeritus of the National catholic Reporter—could you imagine, just imagine, how the heterodox would be rejoicing and the NcR in particular blubbering about it!

This is from Sileri non possum:

This morning, the Holy Father received Dr Maria Montserrat Alvarado, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, in audience. Leo XIV’s decision to meet her so promptly, as plans are being drawn up to reorganise the Holy See’s communications operation, is significant. In more than a year as Pope, he has received Paolo Ruffini only rarely and has never held private talks with the other leading figures in Vatican communications, including Matteo Bruni, Andrea Tornielli and Andrea Monda, whom he has met only at public events.

Read the rest here at Silieri non possum

CARDINAL ZUPPI, A TRULY PROGRESSIVE PROGRESSIVE!

 

ARCHBISHOP SALVATORE CORDILEONE CORRECTS CARDINAL ROCHE ON ETWN’S “THE WORLD OVER”! THIS IS GREAT AS THE “COO” OF EWTN IS ABOUT TO BECOME THE PREFECT OF COMMUNICATIONS AT THE VATICAN AND VATICAN NEWS!

 Archbishop Cordileone, maybe a cardinal one day, speaks frankly to EWTN (Vatican New) Raymond Aroyo about a number of subjects.

Keep in mind that the good Archbishop of San Francisco celebrates the TLM frequently, ordained several deacons and subdeacons in Italy at the beginning of July and of course met with Pope Leo about his appointment to the Supreme Apostolic Signatura. 

Keep in mind, besides His Excellency’s celebrating regularly the TLM and the Bugnini Mass in a TLM way, he also corrected US Representative Nancy Pelosi and asked that she not receive Holy Communion because of her public heterodox and heretical embrace of the Democratic Party’s pro-abortion and pro-death politics. 

A great must-see interview:

ONCE AGAIN, POPE LEO REVERSES POPE FRANCIS AND THIS IS A BIG REVERSAL—THUS POPE LEO CONTINUES TO REVERSE POPE FRANCIS POLICIES—IT DOESN’T TAKE A LEAP THAT HIS HOLINESS COULD ALSO REVERSE MANY ASPECTS OF POPE FRANCIS’ ILL ADVISED AND UGLY TRADITIONIS CUSTODIS!

 This is from Sileri non possum, which has completely revamped its website and made it international with an entirely English speaking version. It now competes with Crux, the Pillar and other social media Catholic news sites! Bookmark it!

Press the title for the full article:

Leo XIV’s new Fundamental Law: what changes in Vatican City

On 31 July, the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, the Pope promulgated the text that entirely replaces the one signed by Francis in 2023. The Fundamental Law is the "constitution" of the world’s smallest state.

ARE THESE CATHOLICS, ALL IN COMMUNION WITH THE POPE, UNIFIED IN THEIR STYLE OF LITURGY—NO, BUT THEY ARE UNIFIED IN JESUS CHRIST WHO IS TRULY PRESENT IN ALL THESE LITURGIES!

 

I hope Pope Leo XIV reminds Cardinal Roche, the Prefect for Dicastery for Divine Worship that the Church is united in Christ, not in the rigid uniformity of the style of Divine Worship.

Cardinal Roche seems to think that the entire Church, east and west, should be celebrating the Bugnini Mass in order to bring the entire Church into liturgical unity, thus very little room for the TLM or any other rite of the Catholic Church, East or West. It is truly a shocking assertion coming from a Cardinal who is the Prefect for the Dicastery of Divine Worship. Did I say SHOCKING? 

Fortunately, thus far, the Cardinal’s wrong and inane words about liturgical unity given in an interview printed by the Tablet hasn’t made its way to Vatican News at all. The good Cardinal also asserted that Pope Leo will not suppress or modify Traditionis Custodis, even to rehabilitate Pope Benedict’s authentic vision for liturgical unity and peace as he articulated in Summorum Pontificum!

Hopefully Pope Leo isn’t as rigid about liturgical unity as Cardinal Roche is—time will tell. But in my most humble opinion, I don’t think His Holiness is rigid!

All these “Masses” below are fully celebrating our Liturgical unity in the same Christ with the Vicar of Christ the visible head of the Church. Jesus Christ is the source of our unity as Catholics and all that He teaches, His Divine Truths. But our liturgical expressions of that Catholic Unity isn’t liturgical as our liturgies, thanks be to God, are quite diverse and flexible!

Yours truly, your friendly flexible post-Vatican II priest completely in union and unity with the Catholic Church and all her diverse and uniquely celebrated Divine Liturgies (Masses). No rigid uniformity with me!

Yours truly celebrating Mass is the Bugnini Mass facing the assembly! Yes, we are all experiencing Catholic Church unity here!!!!

Yours truly, celebrating this Mass too which is the Bugnini Mass facing the assembly! All of us are in the full union and unity with the Catholic Church!!!!

Yes! Yours truly celebrating  this one too which is the Bugnini Mass facing the congregation, my first Mass, June 8, 1980!

Yes, this one too yours truly and it is the Bugnini Mass ad orientem! Yet we are all in union and full unity with the Catholic Church, East and West!

This one is not me celebrating the TLM, but it is at my former parish in Augusta where I made sure by renovating the altar with its once attached reredos, it could celebrate the Bugnini Mass either ad orientem or toward the nave. This one, though, which I did not foresee in 1996 when we did the renovation, is the TLM Mass! Yes, the TLM Mass!

This is yours truly celebrating the TLM Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Savannah, Georgia. This parish primarily celebrates the Bugnini Mass facing the assembly, yet we are all united in Christ at these diverse Masses! This parish primarily celebrates the Bugnini Mass facing the assembly and more than one Sunday Mass! Yet with all the many Sunday Masses, TLM and Bugnini, the parish experiences Catholic unity so prized by Pope Leo!

This is the Anglican Ordinariate Mass, celebrated in its own distinctive way with many aspects from the Protestant Anglican Church’s liturgical patrimony, yet we Catholics are all united even though through diverse liturgical forms!

This is the Eastern Rite’s Melkite Rite Divine Liturgy (Greek Catholic, fully in union with the Vicar of Christ). Their Divine Liturgy is quite different from the Latin Rite’s TLM, Bugnini Mass and Ordinariate Mass, yet, even though of the Eastern Church, we are all united though in diverse liturgical forms!!!! Praise God!

This is the Congolese (Zaire or new African Rite) Mass. Very diverse from the traditional Bugnini Mass but yet we are all united as Catholics though through diverse liturgical forms !!!!

IT SEEMS LIKE OVERNIGHT CATHOLIC FUNERAL RITES GOT CORRUPTED BY THINGS NO CATHOLIC PRIEST SHOULD HAVE ALLOWED BUT DID OVER AND OVER AGAIN UNTIL THESE BECAME NORMAL

 I think the bishops in our country who are trying to put the Vaseline back into the tube will find that quite slippery to do.

We all know that since the Introit, Offertory and Communion antiphons have become optional as well as the chants appropriate for the Final Commendation, music at funeral Masses is simply inane. I think everyone wants “the You Who” song, aka, “On Eagle Wings”, “Be Not Afraid”, “Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art”. And yes, there is a nod to tradition with any version of “Ave Maria” and of course “Panis Angelicus.” 

But I don’t want to talk about that.

Let’s talk about eulogies given by family or friends. Fortunately I stopped those years ago and the parishes where I assist in retirement have done so too. We tell them to do it at the Vigil of the Deceased after the Prayer Service. Only problem is that very few now use funeral homes for any kind of vigil—these are omitted altogether. When I was first ordained the vast majority of funerals had all three movements of the Funeral Rite, the Vigil the night before, the Funeral Mass the next day and the Rite of Committal immediately after the Funeral Mass. 

And now with cremation and experience with delaying funerals during Covid 19, people wait weeks, months, years for a Funeral Service of some kind—no one is in any rush to say good bye to grandma—they wait it out and then forget to do anything!

Today, most Catholics are cremated, there’s no vigil, family members drag the ashes in some kind of container to the Church (I had someone who brought their deceased mother from years ago to be at the same funeral Mass with her husband!) And then after Mass there is no rite of committal. They do what they please with the pulverized bones, teeth, dental implants and artificial joints of their loved ones.

Some bishops are insisting that the body burial is to be preferred all the while allowing parishes to build columbarias right next to the church! Really?

And if there is a body, but no vigil, visitation takes place in the narthex an hour before the funeral Mass. If a church has a nice narthex, that doesn’t seem so bad to me, but some bishops are now forbidding this.

I wish they would forbid “The You Who” song and insist on the propers for the Mass, but I digress. 

Finally bishops are forbidding eulogies. Thank you. Can inappropriate things be said by family members and friends in the Sacred Confines of the Holy Mass? You bet ya! 

I learned all kinds of things about a saintly grandfather from his son who bragged about his dad being a philanderer and his many conquests even in old age. Everyone laughed, except me, I look dour! 

No nothing can go wrong with eulogies and an invitation from one family member who speaks for anyone and everyone to come and say something! Either they are canonized to sainthood or little devils! 

Can the funeral rites be fixed. Can Celebrations of Life ever become Requiem Masses again? 

No, except in TLM communities. 

WOW! WOW! WOW! A MUST READ! IF YOU WANT A GREAT HISTORY OF LIBERAL HETERODOXY IN THE CHURCH OF THE USA BEGINNING IN 1965, ALTHOUGH THE FOCUS ON THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BALTIMORE, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!

 I just ordered the Kindle version of “A liberal Revolution: The implementation of Vatican II in the Archdiocese of Baltimore”.

This is of particular interest to me because I went to seminary in 1976 at St. Mary’s in Baltimore on the heals of this revolution as it was being implemented.

This book is an invaluable history of Vatican II in Baltimore especially beginning in 1965.

It is a bit nostalgic for me and people my age. It is eye-opening for those who did not live through it and think the Church only began with Pope Francis and the conservatives he alienated who prior to Pope Francis were the most ultra-montane Catholics to be found in the face of the revolutionaries this book describes.

Michael Lewis of “Where Peter is”, aka, “Where Pope Francis Was” would do well to read this book to get educated on the immediate post-Vatican II period in this country and how liberals were the first to redicule and reject papal teachings and for the most part, Vatican II itself when properly understood and implemented according to the hermeneutic of continuity not rupture.

Order this book today! A fascinating read for every Catholic in every diocese in the USA!

A Liberal

Revolution: The Implementation of Vatican II in the Archdiocese of Baltimore 

by  Hanael Bianchi  (Author)  Format: Kindle Edition

5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars     (10)

#1 New Releasein History of Catholicism

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Although the Second Vatican Council has generated a large scholarly corpus, A Liberal Revolution is the first history to be written of a diocese in the years immediately following it. Using the important see of Baltimore as a case study, and drawing exclusively on primary sources such as newspaper accounts and archival materials, Hanael Bianchi reconstructs how the Council was implemented and experienced on the local level. The claim that the Church "embraced the modern world" after Vatican II is well known; this book sharpens it by focusing specifically on liberalism as the framework through which implementation took place. The study begins by tracing the dismantling of inherited traditions, then turns to the rise of individualism within Catholic life and governance, before arriving at its most original contribution: an analysis of the emergence of a dense church bureaucracy that embodied and enforced a liberal worldview. Although the story told in these pages is a tragedy, A Liberal Revolution is no polemic; rather, it is a work of historical analysis grounded in years of research. It will not only contribute to the scholarly understanding of Vatican II and its aftermath but also offer guidance to Catholics seeking a path toward genuine renewal, grounded in a thorough and accurate assessment of what actually happened.

https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Revolution-Implementation-Archdiocese-Baltimore-ebook/dp/B0H571Y7G6/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0

IS POPE LEO TRYING REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HARD TO PREVENT CARDINAL MARX FROM GOING INTO SCHISM?

We know that Pope Benedict XVI tried really, really, really hard to prevent the FSSPX from going into schism. Even Pope Francis offered them olive branches to keep them in full communion. But the FSSPX thought Pope Leo (Lion) would be a lamb and that they could push His Holiness around. 

Pope Leo certainly tried to prevent the FSSPX schism, but to no avail. The hubris of the FSSPX overwhelmed their common sense and logic and they directly disobeyed the Vicar of Christ, God’s visible head of the Church on earth. Jesus, of course, is the Invisible Head of the Church—the pope is a sacramental sign of Christ. 

Admittedly, I am putting two and two together, not to get five, as someone famously said, but to get four.

Pope Leo (Lion) met with Cardinal Marx this Wednesday morning. He also met with Cardinal Ferenandez, the Prefect for the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith. 

I have to say, that Cardinal Fernandez under Pope Leo (Lion) isn’t as flaky as he was under Pope Francis. So I am sure that Fernandez is also warning Cardinal Marx and the other schismatic-tending German and Germanic bishops about schism. 

What do you think about that?

OH YES, THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BALTIMORE IN THE LATE 1970’S, WHEN I WAS IN THE SEMINARY, ST. MARY’S SEMINARY AND UNIVERSITY AT ROLAND PARK, 1976-80!

 When I entered St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore’s swanky Roland Park suburb,, I was 22 years old.

I had never experienced progressive, or what was called then, liberal Catholicism, although I read about it in Our Sunday Visitor and National Catholic Register newspapers available in my home parish in Augusta, Georgia. That parish was a bulwark against liberalism, but embraced the new vernacular Mass, but kneeling for Holy Communion remained in place even when I went to the seminary in 1976–no Eucharistic ministers or standing for Holy Communion until the early 1980’s. 

1Peter5 has an article on the liberal/progressive decline in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. When I was there, we had the retired Cardinal Shehan but the liberal, quite liberal new Archbishop was Archbishop William Borders, a nice, gentle man but hell bent on the spirit of Vatican II and allowing all kinds of experimentations. 

What the article in 1Peter5 does not indicate nor the summary of a book on Baltimore they provide is the impact that Saint Mary Seminary and University had on the archdiocese and way beyond, like the Diocese of Savannah. 

It was there that I saw wild experimentation with the liturgy, priests celebrating the Mass their way and each having a particular style. One priest, a Biblical scholar, felt the Liturgy of the Word was the most important part of the Mass. So after the entrance song, he did not begin the Mass with the Sign of the Cross. He simply said “the Lord be with you” and then Let us Pray for the Collect and we sat down for the the Liturgy of the Word—it was a fast way to get to it, no?

But in many ways our seminary was heterodox and subversive in bringing to the Baltimore Archdiocese and beyond its particular version of Catholic Lite, heterodox Catholicism.

And poor old Pope Paul VI and then Pope John Paul II were excoriated for their vision of the Church and unwillingness to ordain women, promote inclusive language and embrace the sexual revolution and make homosexual sex and relationships on par with heterosexual ones. 

Our seminary saw liberal theologians there and elsewhere as a parallel magisterium and just as authoritative as anything the popes in Rome were teaching as backwards as they were. 

Today, Baltimore is a mere shadow of what it was even in the 1970’s. Many prospering parishes at that time, even with the liberal upheavals, are now closed, religious orders gone and many institutions shuttered too. Those Catholics who attend Mass and are faithful are a mere shadow of the number of Catholics who no longer attend Mass, have their children baptized, let alone get married in the Church and have Catholic funerals. There is no longer the old saying about cultural Catholics, being hatched, matched and dispatched! 

Press the 1Peter5 title for their full article—it gave me PTST:

Liturgical Reform Case Study: the Catholic City of Baltimore