THE LIFE OF AN ITINERANT “RETIRED” PRIEST!

 On Sunday, I celebrated the 7 AM Mass at St. Gregory the Great Church in Bluffton. That Mass has no music or singing-just a spoken Mass. Then I drove to St. Anthony Mission in Hardeeville for their 8:30 AM Mass. That Mass has a cantor who strums a guitar to lead the singing. Then I went back to HII but left again to go to Savannah for the Traditional Latin Mass at 1 PM at Sacred Heart Church. That Mass is completely sung, including the priest’s parts and there is a professional Schola which is expert in Gregorian Latin Chant. I offered the 1 PM Mass for the happy repose of the soul of my brother, Johnny, who died two weeks ago of cancer. August 20th he would have been 76 years old. BTW, as an itinerant “retired” priest, I clocked 143 miles on my car on Sunday!

Saint Gregory the Great Church in Bluffton, SC:

Saint Anthony of Padua Mission, Hardeeville, SC:

Sacred Heart Church in Savannah, Georgia:

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING, CERTAINLY NOT KEEPING THE CHURCH GREAT OR GREATER AGAIN!

Chapel of The Immaculate Conception, University Of Dayton (Catholic University)

Before:

After

After, after

After, after, after

After, after, after, after

More after????

This is what  happens when liturgists, usually terrorists’ types, know it alls, get in charge of redecorating churches and renovating them. 

By 1980, I bought into this crap lock, stock and barrel. And, yes, we had to get rid of pews and their rigid seating. Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility was the ideology of the day and not just for church building but for Catholicism itself.

A former seminary classmate of mine was able to design a new church. The plan was for ultra flexibility, so that the chairs, altar, and ambo could be moved depending on the liturgy and the particular need of that assembly at that moment. And there could be different arrangements for different season of the year.

Of course, as one ages, moving furniture constantly and have a nave and sanctuary constantly in flux wears on you and drives Catholic crazy. 

I think we are back to some sanity when it comes to our churches, although pockets of the flexible 1970’s continue to rear their renovating, chaotic heads, but they too will pass, God willing! 

THIS BELONGS TO RIPPLY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

St. Francis de Sales Oratory in Sulphur, Louisiana, was sold many years ago to the city and became a courthouse. The courthouse look could also pass as a wreckovation for the NO Liturgy. Kind of funny if not so sad.

But then the ICKSP purchased the former church turned court house and restored it in a magnificent way!

Pre-Vatican II look:

Post-Vatican II courthouse look which is amazingly a Novus Ordo look too!

The ICKSP post-Vatican II restoration:

O Happy Day!!!!

WILL MEGA PARISHES AND CHURCH BUILDINGS MAKE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH GREAT AGAIN? NO!

 The parishes that are producing mega vocations to the priesthood and religious life are those that are either conservative/traditional Modern Mass (Novus Ordo) parishes or parishes associated with the the TLM, such as the FSSP and the ICTCSP. And certainly, percentage wise, the SSPX is producing more priestly candidates than any progressive NO parish. 

Parishes with significant numbers of new movement laity, such as charismatics, are also producing more vocations. 

This new mega parish in California is interesting. If it follows the organizational genius of Protestant mega churches, it could succeed but will be less Catholic. It has to be based upon dividing the parish into small groups where community can be experienced as well as Christian education and service. Those groups will have to be lay led and hopefully by laity well trained. The training, I think, is what is lacking. 

The key is to have smaller parishes where you don’t need to divide it up too much into small groups, although small groups have always been a part of Catholic parishes pre and post Vatican II. 

CBS did a good job with this special interest story:

MAKE ALTARS RECTANGULAR AGAIN! AND GREAT AGAIN!!

 Let’s pretend this altar is detached and allows for The Liturgy of the Eucharist facing the nave. What a great altar we could have again.

For some odd reason, new altars after Vatican II, not mandated by Vatican II, btw, became square or box-like and very short and insignificant looking in style and elevation. 

Of course, this implied the Eucharist was not so great as pre-Vatican II altars made the Eucharist.

We need to make altars great again and that will make the Eucharist great again in the minds of Catholics and non-Catholics.

TRYING TO MAKE THE CHURCH’S LITURGY GREAT AGAIN WILL TAKE MORE THAN THE WRINGING OF HANDS!

The bishops of a country are wringing their hands and write a letter to correct liturgical abuses. It could be any country, some with different liturgical abuses. But it is so common today and so few are wringing their hands because so few care:

Here’s a list that wringing hands are calling out in order to make the liturgy great again! Good luck with that!

• Deviations from prescribed prayers and rubrics of the Mass, including the Eucharistic Prayer.

  
  

• Irreverent handling of the Eucharist.

  
  

• Priests walking down the aisle while carrying the monstrance during exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and blessing people, “using gestures akin to sprinkling of holy water.”

  
  

• “Inappropriate music,” including secular songs.

  
  

• “Indecorous dance,” including during Eucharistic exposition.

  
  

• Commercializing the liturgy by “taking up too many collections and fundraising right in the middle of liturgical celebrations.” 

  
  

• Using the pulpit “to pursue personal interests.”

  
  

• Incorporating local customs inconsistent with the Catholic faith under the pretext of inculturation. 

  
  

• Failure to wear proper vestments. 

  
  

• Lack of adequate preparation for liturgical celebrations.

  
  

• The “invention of rites,” including the ceremony of child dedication where a youngster is sometimes placed on the altar.

  
  

• The blessing of items not approved by the Church as sacramentals.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

TO HECK WITH MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, LET'S MAKE THE CHURCH GREAT AGAIN!

 PLEASE NOTE THAT BLOGGER HAS UPDATED HOW TO POST COMMENTS. YOU CAN NOW COMMENT DIRECTLY UNDER A COMMENT RESPONDING TO THAT COMMENT. I JUST DISCOVERED THAT! HOW COOL IS THAT!

 

Someone has said that the Church's role is not to make America great again, but for the Church to be counter-cultural and thus great again.

I happen agree with that because Jesus was counter cultural, only confirming that which was good and holy in culture but calling out that which was sinful and corrupt. 

For the Church to be great again, her Magisterium will need to reform its dance with politics and using political ideologies to appease the world, thinking this will draw people to the Church as a form of evangelization.

Thus the current pope's current way of promoting care for the earth and stopping climate change falls very short of Jesus' counter cultural message. The demise of human beings and all that is created due to original sin, is in the DNA of each of us and the created world. To forget that the Church's mission is to save the world and its human inhabitants from its final destruction by thinking the Church can help politicians stop climate change is pure nonsense, especially as there is no real consensus in science as to why climate is changing other than to say it always has changed since the Fall of Man!

Another area of worldliness with the current papal magisterium is buying into the sexual immorality that has emerged as an ideology since the 1960's. It is on steroids now fueled by easy to get pornography, and what the LGBTQ+++ movement is shoving down the throats of America through the most authoritarian way possible. It is also fueled by the big-bucks media sources.  We hear nothing from the current magisterium about chastity depending on one's state in life and leading those in aberrant sexual immorality to Christ and His counter-cultural message which hinges on chastity and fidelity to God. It hinges on repentance and choosing a new way of life by God's grace.

The Church must also, in the most honest way possible, critique Vatican II and what its implementation has done to the Church, her clear teachings, her liturgy, spirituality and devotional life. This honest assessment must look at what has happened to religious life in the last 50 years that has led to its decline and the many, many apostolates that religious once led, especially Catholic hospitals and educational apostolates. 

Recently, the last Catholic hospital in Alabama was sold to a secular institution. The decline of religious who once staffed these hospitals and gave them a Catholic identity has led to the disappearance of so many of the institutions they spearheaded. 

The Catholic liturgy is in far more disarray and poorly celebrated than it ever was prior to Vatican II. What has the complete dismantling of the old system of how the Liturgy was celebrated to something that is now a free-for-all led to the loss of the counter-cultural mission of the Church and her unique Catholic identity found in the liturgy.

The post-Vatican II Church is not inspiring young men in large numbers to consider priesthood as a manly lifetime vocations demanding a rigorous spirituality and morality to pursue. 

Just some thoughts on how to make the Church great again!

WHERE PETER IS BLOG BURNOUT

 

Michael Lewis of the “Were Peter is” blog, seems to be experiencing blog-burn out. He calls it writer’s cramp, but blogs can be very fun for the author if for the author the blog is a fun hobby that he can live or live without. He wants someone else to take it over. 

My most humble blog, in my mind, has always been just that, in my mind. Otherwise it boggles my mind that some weeks I have thousands of hits on certain posts. I think it is all make-believe and a return to my make-believe childhood. 

My advise to Michael Lewis is not to take blogs and hits too seriously. Just have fun. Be happy, not sad. 

Catholicism is not lived on blogs and comments made on blogs.

It is just a distraction, a diversion and it can be fun.

Catholicism is lived at home, in parishes and in the public square. 

The great saints witness to us the genius of a great Catholic identity, a life lived in faith, hope and charity. 

Catholicism is not completely based on doctrines, morals or liturgy, but on the Divine Person of Jesus Christ, which doctrines, morals and liturgies put Flesh upon. 

In Christ do we find our true identity and our eternal salvation. It cannot be found any other legitimate way. 

So to Mike Lewis and “Where Peter Is” blog, it’s not the pope or doctrine or morals we worship, but the Triune God. Yes, our identity is not a fierce individualism or just a God and me ideology, but Jesus the Head of the Church with His Body which is the fully initiated People of God. 

But Catholicism isn’t magic. It demands our participation by God’s grace to accomplish all that God makes possible for us. 

DOES GOD WANT HIS MALE LEADERS TO BE MEN OR WOMEN, MASCULINE OR FEMINIE?

 I have written this before, but Pope Francis wants to feminize the Church. By that I don’t mean what most Catholics think when we think about the Church. We refer to her as she and Holy Mother. The reason for this is that the Church receives from God the living grace necessary to generate and maintain eternal life, especially for those conceived and born again through Holy Baptism. 

But it appears for Pope Francis, that he wants leadership in the Church, meaning males in Holy Orders, to be more feminine in their pastoral approach. Thus, like a mother, bishops and priests should nurure, cajole and cuddle Holy Mother Church’s errant children.

This is stereotypical of course, because not all mothers are enablers of their children’s bad behavior and some, like fathers do, kick their ridiculously errant children out of the home and tell them to sink or swim.

And certainly Pope Francis knows that Italian mothers can be notoriously harsh with their children, yelling at them, throwing things at them and slamming doors, kitchen cabinets and cooking pans and pots. 

Thus, we see Pope Francis’ ethos as it concerns those who are really miscreants. He coddles them, does not call them out and encourages ministries that enables their immoral, miscreant behavior. Pope Francis even writes hand-written love notes to various ideological ministries of a certain left-leaning Jesuit preist and his enabling ministry. 

John Allen has an interesting piece in Crux this morning about Francis come lately’s semi-condemnation of the sacrilege and blasphemy surrounding the Last Supper in the opening ceremony of the Olympics. 

Until last night, as I write this, Pope Francis has said nothing personally about it. I am surprised he didn’t write a hand-written note to the actors thanking them for sharing their talents on a world stage. 

But on Saturday night, August 3, the Vatican released its own statement. Why? Because Turkey’s leader, I presume a Muslim, asked Pope Francis to do so. You got that right. Turkey’s muslim president, was put out that Pope Francis has been silent in order to appease the LGBTQ++++ ideology of the world and a Muslim secular leader called the Holy Father out on it. He was justly outraged as so many other religious figures, Christian or not, had spoken out! The Turkish President wanted the pope to do his job!

I guess the Turkish president told Pope Francis to man-up and stop acting like a woman. But that too would be stereotypical too, no?

But yes, let’s have some masculinity in the Catholic hierarchy and lets begin at the top. 

READ JOHN ALLEN’S ARTICLE HERE.

THIS IS THE ACHILLES TENDEN OF THE HORIZONTAL, SYNODAL CHURCH—GOD AND SALVATION IS LACKING…

There is a lot of pearl clutching about the blasphemous portrayal of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper at the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. 

Two questions that I have, revolve around why France and the Olympic Committee thought it was a good idea to promote LGBTQFP+++ people and inclusivity by mocking, denigrating and marginalizing Christians throughout the world by blaspheming the Last Supper and by way of that the Lord and The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. 

There should be an independent investigation in France by secular and religious figures to get to the bottom of it and then issue the appropriate apologies. Was this an international “hate crime?”

But that is the secular side to this horrendous debacle.

The point of this post is the horizontal, synodal Church’s weakness to address in a missionary and evangelistic way the horror the Church experiences when people turn away from God and the Kingdom of Heaven and turn toward the devil and his eternal damnation. 

I have not heard a word of sympathy for the loss of salivation for those “actors” who were willing fools for France’s government and the Olympic Committee’s evil ideology about inclusivity by hating and mocking religion. 

Should we not have pity on those who choose the devil and eternal damnation. In love, should we not call them to repentance after reminding them what their mortal sins of blasphemy of the Last Supper will so to them and their immortal souls?

Have you heard a word of sympathy and concern about these people’s loss of salvation and the Church being a hospital for them to be cured of their mortal sins and thus loss of heaven?

Crickets?

OUCH!

 This is why the Vatican took down a listening Church’s on-line survey. I think it was too much Sensus Fidelium for them:

HMM! 🤔

 Olympic size power failure in Paris! Only building left shining in the darkness is The Basilica of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ!

HATRED OF GOD LEADS TO HATRED OF SELF AND OF OTHERS…

It is beyond me why the Olympic Committee thought it was good to showcase a decapitated Marie Antoinette and why they thought self-loathing and God loathing LGBTQFP++++ miscreants would be good entertainment for an athletic event by blaspheming the Last Supper. It blows one’s mind.

But there you have it.

They hate God; they hate themselves, thus the disfigurement of their gender and of their bodies and they hate you and me.

Pray for them! Ask God’s mercy for them. Fast and abstain for them. God’s grace can crack their hatred and help them return to sanity and self-respect, respect for other and love for God. 

Sinners they are in need of God’s mercy and salvation. 

A VERY NICE REDECORATION OF AN A-FRAME CHURCH BUILDING, BUT, UNFORTUNATELY, ONE MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR FLAW OR TWO!

 These are photos of Saint Mary of the Assumption in Taylor, Texas (not Tyler):

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The redecoration of Saint Mary of the Assumption Church is beautiful, especially in an A-Frame building. 

But and there are two buts:

But Number 1: the freestanding new altar is nice. But it is way, way, way too low, meaning three steps below the altar that is behind it, which, btw, is exactly the right height! That new free standing altar is only two steps up from the nave of the church. In a full church, the only people that will be able to see the new altar are the people in the first pew. What were they thinking? If the new free standing altar had been place on the same level as the attached altar table, that problem would be solved. What were they thinking?

But Number 2: the ambo/pulpit is beautiful. But look at how it hides the new free standing altar. It appears to me that a priest or layperson standing in the pulpit would be the right height and seen very well as it is the same height as the third step to the old attached altar. What were they thinking when they made the pulpit higher than the free standing new altar? Why oh Lord! Why?

You can read the full article and more photos at the Liturgical Arts Journal HERE. 

WHAT THE H?????? THIS IS FROM VATICAN NEWS AND IS CALLED VATICAN ART! WHAT THE H????

 

Vatican Pavilion at the Venice Biennale continues its journey

The Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education illustrates the ongoing events and initiatives of the Holy See Pavilion at Venice’s Giudecca Women’s Prison including the publication of a catalogue and screening of a short film. 

By Vatican News

The Holy See Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia continues its displays, workshops and visits in the in city’s Giudecca Women’s Prison with more events running until 24 November. 

Entitled “With My Own Eyes”  the Pavilion is dedicated to the theme of human rights and people living on the margins of society, and seeks to draw the world’s attention to those people who are largely ignored while fostering a culture of encounter. The unique context allows artistic experiences to be intertwined with the daily lives of the inmates, offering a space for expression and dialogue through internal workshops and guided tours open to the public.

Since its official opening, on April 20, the eight artists involved in the project (Maurizio Cattelan, Claire Fontaine, Bintou Dembélé, Simone Fattal, Sonia Gomes, Marco Perego and Zoe Saldana, Claire Tabouret, and with the collaboration of the Corita Art Center) and the inmates, supported by the curators, the educators and the prison officers, have carried out a series workshops that dialogue and complete the exhibition (free guided tours for the public continue at 10am, 11am, 3pm, and 4pm, every day, except on Wednesdays, and booking is required at least 48 hours in advance).

See the entire Vatican News story HERE.

THIS WOULD BE FUNNY IF IT WASN’T SO UNFUNNY! YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP BUT THANK GOD FOR THE SENSUS FIDELIUM!

The Vatican, which these days does not have very many bright bulbs or faithful Catholics, put up an on-line poll to find out what those on social media think about synodality.

I have written before and will write again that many in the Vatican in high places in running the synod on synodality seldom if ever speak about God, either as a Trinity, or Jesus alone and there is never any talk about repentance, a new way of life in accord with Jesus. There is nothing about the Blessed Mother or any of the saints and no talk about the glory of heaven, which is meant to be our destination as Catholics.

Let me add, that Pope Francis does talk about Trinitarian beliefs, the Blessed Mother, salvation and the dark side of that of the devil and his abode. But the heads of the Synod on synodality, not so much if at all. 

Instead, for these dim bulbs,  synodality is held up as a false god in and of itself and conversion to synodality is the goal. Yes you read that correctly, CONVERSION to synodality is the goal.

You don’t believe me? Well read the question put on an on-line survey of what Catholics think about synodality. The question would be funny if is weren’t so unfunny.

But this is where the Holy Spirit and the Sensus Fidelium jumps in and saves the day. Far more, and I mean far more Catholics said that synodality does not help them whatsoever and that they couldn’t care less about it. 

This matches my findings. Less that 1% of worldwide Catholics give a flipping damn about synodality. They know it appeals only to that less than 1% of elite Catholics enthused about it because they can change the Church into their own image and ideology. Faithful Catholics abhor the whole thing and fear the dictatorship of synodality shoved down our throats as a false god, just as Vatican II was worshipped for a few decades after the council until Jesus stopped it only to have that worship return in the last 13 years. 

You can read Crux full article on this yet again Vatican debacle HERE.

Here, though, it the question from a poll which was then taken down by the Vatican when the answer did not go their preconceived way:

Published the morning of July 25, the poll asked the question, “Do you believe that synodality as a path of conversion and reform can enhance the mission and participation of all the baptized?” It offered either “yes” or “no” as a response. And NO, NO, NO, won out as “yes” was beaten to death. Thank you Jesus!”

LITURGICAL AND DEVOTIONAL RENEWAL, NOT REFORM…

 This was a recent, very recent, Holy Hour at St. Anne Church in Richmond Hill. There was Solemn Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament and Benediction.

This is a renewal of the posture for adoration for those laity who chose to do so. It is the declericcalization of this posture of piety. 

St. Anne Church celebrates all of its Masses, except for one Sunday Mass, ad orientem and the laity receive Holy Communion at the brand spanking new Communion Rail kneeling or standing.

IT ISN’T THE FORM OF THE LITURGY THAT UNITES ROMAN CATHOLICS, EAST, WEST, NORTH AND SOUTH…

IT IS JESUS CHRIST, CRUCIFIED AND RISEN, TRULY AND TRANSUBTANTIALLY PRESENT IN THE MOST HOLY EUCHARIST OFFERED DURING THE GLORIFIED AND UNBLOODY HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS IN WHATEVER VALID FORM THAT MASS OR DIVINE LITURGY TAKES! ENOUGH SAID!

Here is a portion of an Our Sunday Visitor article that makes that point brilliantly as it concerns the now completed Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis:

The recent National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis was nothing short of a monumental success for the Church in the United States. It was a historic gathering that shattered barriers and brought together diverse segments of our Catholic community in an unprecedented way.

For too long, the Church in the United States has struggled with ideological echo chambers that have fostered division and misunderstanding. Often those ideologies are presented under the guise of liturgical preference. The National Eucharistic Congress, however, proved to be a powerful antidote to this fragmentation. The gathering drew a wide spectrum of Catholics, from Traditional Latin Mass devotees and members of Eastern Catholic churches to charismatics and more. This was not just a meeting of minds but a communion of hearts, united in love for the Eucharist and the Catholic Church.

READ THE REST THERE…

My comments:

The article states that there were Eastern Rite Catholics present with Eastern Rite Liturgies celebrated. Of particular note was the Syro-Malabar Liturgy that was celebrated for 25,000 Catholics and celebrated  ad orientem as Pope Francis demands that it be celebrated, warning priests who don’t that they may be excommunicated. 

Also allowed, thanks be to God and His glory, was the Ancient Traditional Latin Mass in a church filled to capacity with and overflow outside. 

There were Novus Ordo Masses with a variety of musical styles, Gospel music being quite notable, as well as, charismatic Catholics with their style of liturgy and liturgical expression. 

And all who were there, over 50,000 Catholic Faithful of the East and the West were united not by the form of the Liturgy but by Jesus Christ present, truly present, as well as His one glorified Sacrifice on the Cross. He unites us, not the form of the Liturgy. But the liturgy must be valid and it must be licit! It must be reverent, not banal and pedestrian.

The Vatican needs to wake up to this truth. May I be as bold to say that the Most Holy Spirit was speaking to all Catholics about what I just wrote and especially to a tone deaf Vatican where many in high places, to include the pope, think the Novus Ordo is the uniting liturgy for the entire Church. How ridiculous! 

INSTAGRAM ‘REEL” NAILS IT! BUT WILL THE YOUNG AND YOUNG AT HEART BE INSPIRED BY IT? SHOULD WE WALK DOWN THIS PATH OF PROMOTING THE TRUE CHURCH?

To  evangelize the young and the young at heart, should we, as Catholic and as the Church, go down this path?

Push title for Instagram link:

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS…

O SALUTARIS HOSTIA!

One of my former parishioners in Richmond Hill sent me this photo and explanation of it. She says that this is the end of the Procession the Blessed Sacrament was in Exposition on the terrace of the war memorial in Indianapolis ….. very moving….. tens of thousands of people on their knees on the plaza and in the park.

The voices of thousands singing o salutaris hostia and the Tantum ergo.

We saw Bishop Stephen Parkes walking in the procession 😊

VERY TASTEFUL AND NOT OVERDONE!

 Some of the restorations I have seen in the last few years see to me like the pendulum swinging from the extreme of austere, puritanical wreckovations to way to ornate and fussy recoveries of what the decorators thought was the case in pre-Vatican II times. Very often it is way too much and distracting to me, at least.

Other decorations in modern churches seem to impose an incongruent design on a modern structure thus creating quite a clash of styles, very distracting to say the least. 

This is Sacred Heart Church, one of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius’ parishes Springfield, Illinois. I am sure you will agree with me that it is very tastefully decorated:

This Sacred Heart Church in Springfield, Illinois is very similar to Sacred Heart Church in Savannah, Georgia where the TLM is celebrated each Sunday at 1 pm. Unfortunately, Savannah’s Sacred Heart underwent a horrible wreckovation shortly after Vatican II. This is what it looked like prior to that wreckovation:

This is how it looks today:

Although, Savannah’s Sacred Heart doesn’t have stained glass windows above the altar and never did, like Sacred Heart in Springfield, but Sacred Heart in Springfield is a good template for the restoration of Sacred Heart in Savannah one day, when a benefactor pays for it!