Wednesday, December 10, 2025

A MOTHER BLESSING HER TWO NEWLY ORDAINED SONS—AS THE CHURCH LADY SAYS, “WELL, ISN’T THAT SPECIAL!”

What a beautiful moment.. no???? A Mother blessing her two sons who were ordained to the Catholic priesthood on the same day in Croatia..

TAKING A CRITICAL EYE TO A STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL RENOVATION/RESTORATION OF THE BASILICA OF THE SACRED HEART IN DOWNTOWN ATLANTA…

Want-to-be minor basilica, Saint Joesph Church in Macon, Georgia:

When I was stationed at Saint Joseph Church in Macon, then Bishop Gregory Hartmayer, now the Archbishop of Atlanta, gave me permission to peruse having Saint Joseph Church named a minor basilica. We sought advice from those involved at having the Basilica of the Sacred Heart named a basilica which must have happened about ten years ago, more or less.

Unfortunately, since my departure, and even before, we made little to no progress in moving the needle forward to have Saint Joseph Church named a minor basilica. Congratulations to those at Sacred Heart who knew what they were doing and took the initiative to do it and quickly!

Preparing the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Atlanta for its 150th anniversary has been nothing short of amazing. The church stands as a beautiful example of Romanesque architecture, characterized by its round arches, barrel-vaulted ceiling, and pillared triforium. The sanctuary dome depicts a golden glow of heaven, while the star-studded blue ceiling is inspired by the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, Italy.

Below are before and after photos of the renovation/restoration of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in downtown Atlanta:

Before, which isn’t bad and more than likely just one of many reworkings of the interior in 150 years:

After (my most humble critiques below photos):

I am conflicted with the before “reredos” being removed, although I am sure that was a product of a previous renovation, but I like it, but perhaps without the curtains. The removal of it, exposes the three arches behind the reredos. The tabernacle perch is nice, but I prefer the six candles of the removed reredos. It appears too, that the three steps up that the before altar is on, were reduced to two steps up, meaning the new altar is only two steps higher than the pews. That is too, too, low! I am glad, though, that the priest chairs are no longer behind the new altar.

The painting of the new Sacred Heart image above the altar is far superior than the before!

Overall, the restoration is stunning.

Before:

After:

Again, I think it was a mistake to remove the older reredos. I think it is stunning and fits the sanctuary and a nicer look for the tabernacle. And the decorative candelabra on either side of the reredos are stunning and a tragedy to see those go. The new altar and pedestal for the tabernacle are beautiful and approximate the new altar at St. Joseph in Macon, which it appears to me they tried to copy with the red marble columns. I know they used Conrad Schmitt for the redecorating, but I wonder if they used Ralph Rahn for the altar and altar pedestal, who we used at St. Jospeh’s for our new altar, ambo and priest chairs. (Sadly, a former pastor after me, ditched the priests’ chairs, very expensive, works of art, and donated by a donor, for something cheaper and insignificant! UGH!!!!

The before altar is nice, but out of place there. I think the new one is better, but I think a longer rectangular would have been better with six candlesticks placed on the altar itself would have been nicer.

Before:

After:

I like the restoration very much. It appears that they placed Saint Joseph at the side altar to the right of the main altar, where the Blessed Mother had been. I don’t have the photo of it, but I think Mary is placed to the left of the main altar now, which is the traditional configuration. However, I am not sure if there is a Sacred Heart Statue in this church named after the Sacred Heart. Traditionally, in this style of church configuration, if there is a Sacred Heart Statue, it is placed to the left of the main altar and then Mary to the right, poor old St. Joseph would have to go somewhere else.

Although not clear in the very top photo of St. Joseph Church in Macon, the Blessed Mother’s chapel there is to the right of the main altar because the Sacred Heart chapel is to the left of the main altar, which is the traditional set-up. This is true also at Savannah’s Cathedral.

SOME WONDERFUL ADVICE FOR OUR WONDERFUL PASTORAL NEW POPE, POPE LEO XIV: WILL HIS HOLINESS HEED THIS ADVICE? STORM HEAVEN WITH PRAYERS THAT HE WILL DO SO!

RORATE CAELI HAS A GOOD AMOUNT OF ARCHBISHOP GEORG GANSWEIN INTERVIEW WHICH YOU CAN READ IN FULL HERE. BUT BELOW ARE IMPORTANT MONEY BYTES:

REPORTER: Cardinal Kurt Koch recently said in an interview that Pope Benedict had shown a helpful way forward by being convinced that something practiced for centuries could not simply be forbidden. Indeed, the restrictions on the classical liturgy clearly pained Pope Benedict.

Archbishop Georg Gänswein:
It was not only painful [for him], but he also saw, in his role as Pope, that something had to be done to change this state of affairs. He repeatedly stated that the so-called ‘old liturgy,’ that is, the Tridentine liturgy, was never abolished. This is absolutely not the case since, of course, the Tridentine liturgy became the Novus Ordo; that is to say, the language was retained, but the content was somewhat changed. And it is precisely this liturgy that, for centuries, has allowed the Church not only to live, but to live well; the Saints have nourished themselves on it and from it. It cannot be the case that it was legitimate and precious yesterday, but then no longer so from tomorrow. This is, therefore, an unnatural situation, and that was the driving force, along with the experience he gained after the Second Vatican Council—his experience that those who have lost their spiritual and liturgical homeland just need to be returned to this spiritual homeland. This is where his motu proprio and accompanying letter came

REPORTER: What is your assessment of Traditionis custodes and the new regulations for the classical rite?

Archbishop Georg Gänswein:
I have never understood why Pope Francis introduced this restriction. At the time, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was tasked with conducting an investigation, or survey, of the bishops worldwide. What do you think about Benedict‘s motu proprio? Have the experiences been positive? Have the experiences been desirable? Did anything need to be changed? The results were never published, but of course, we know about them. The result, ultimately, was that a sense of peace had been achieved. It was a path to peace, especially in the liturgy, the most important place of religious life, and there should not be any changes. Why Pope Francis still did this anyway is and remains a mystery to me. Have we not seen, especially in the English-speaking world, the difficulties that arose from this? Even in the accompanying letter from Pope Francis, where he repeatedly referred to John Paul II and Benedict, it is impossible to discern what purpose his restrictions serve.

So, I suspect that for most bishops, today [the classical rite] still remains in the way it had done until Traditionis custodes. But it is, of course, the case that the motu proprioof Francis has indeed been a great burden with regard to this important question of the extraordinary form.

REPORTER: What path do you yourself envision now for the future of the liturgical tradition?
Archbishop Georg Gänswein:
I believe that Pope Benedict’s wise approach is the right way—and this has been the case for over ten years now—it is the right way, and this path should be continued without difficulty or restriction. And I can only hope that Pope Leo will also move in this direction and simply continue the process of reconciliation, that this cooperation may also bear fruit.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS, AKA, HOLIDAY MIRACLES? I DO!

This Holiday, aka, Christmas 🎄 miracle happened to me this morning at a Hilton Head Island gas pump ⛽️! What affordability! However, I am old, aka, young enough to remember paying 19 cents a gallon around 1970 in Augusta, Georgia, as there use to be gas-wars with gas stations competing to have the lowest price. Hess, of happy memory, always won that war!

THANK YOU POPE LEO…

From Silere non possum

Leo XIV throws the Vatican reporters into a spin: “I prefer to pray in a church rather than in a mosque”

Vatican City – After the act of veneration of the Immaculate Conception in Piazza di Spagna on Monday, 8 December, Pope Leo XIV went to Castel Gandolfo, to Villa Barberini, to spend a few hours at rest. On Tuesday morning the Pontiff received the President of Ukraine and, in the evening, after dinner, he returned to the Vatican.

As usual, before getting into the car to go back to St Peter’s, the Pope spent some time with the journalists outside Villa Barberini. Among the questions was one from Jacopo Scaramuzzi – Vatican reporter for La Repubblica, by now known in the field for asking questions often devoid of any real sense – who wanted to know why Leo XIV had not prayed in a mosque during his recent trip to Turkey.

The Pope reacted with evident surprise, almost astonished that he should have to explain why a Pontiff does not pray in a mosque. “They said that I did not pray, but I had already given an answer on the plane, I mentioned a book. It may well be that I am praying even now, you understand? The style of prayer, in the moment and in the place I… in fact I prefer to pray in a Catholic church in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. But so much has been said about that moment, and it seems to me a bit curious…”, he said.

That word, “curious”, made clear how Leo XIV regards the controversy as contrived and entirely meaningless. Other questions were then put to the Pope, including one concerning his private life and his apartment, to which he replied with great clarity, thus denying the false “scoops” and bogus “exclusives” that in recent months some self-styled holders of titles who are not journalists have splashed across the papers, claiming that the Pope would be living with the Augustinian community.

However objectively senseless the questions of these journalists may be, one must acknowledge that they are also a sign of a climate generated in past years, when a certain kind of Vatican reporting had become accustomed to papal gestures that produced above all confusion. Today, therefore, what is normal is perceived as absurd and almost extraordinary, when in reality it is nothing of the kind. As Leo XIV recalled, there is nothing strange if a Pope does not pray in a mosque: it is obvious that he does not consider that the place where he is called to pray and that he prefers to address God in a church, before the Blessed Sacrament, in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

fr.G.V.
Silere non possum