Your Good News

Posted on 25 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Do you have some good news to share with the readers?

Let us know what it is.

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Ass. of US Catholic Priests met in St. Louis. Average age….

Posted on 24 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Tom Fox of the National Schismatic Reporter (aka The Fishwrap) posted about a group of priests who just met in St. Louis.

A friend sent an email with the link and the comment:

I believe that this defines the words “irrelevant”, “inconsequential” and “game over”.

In the meantime, young priests are learning the older, traditional Mass.

You decide:

‘Vatican II’ priests meet, express new hope [Fishwrap harps about how "polarizing" people is so horrible, and yet they themselves are the only ones they permit to engage in it.]

SAINT LOUIS — Some 225 priests have gathered in St. Louis for a three-day conference here, aimed at carrying church renewal forward. [Forward unto becoming, what, congregationalists?]
The theme of the assembly is “Revelation in our Lives and Time,” drawn from the Vatican II document Dei Verbum, the primary Vatican II document on Sacred Scripture.

The Association of U.S. Catholic Priests [Abbrev. as Ass of USCP] was formed following an Aug. 25, 2011 meeting of 27 self-described “Vatican II priests” at Mundelein Seminary in Illinois. The organization’s inaugural assembly in June 2012 drew some 240 delegates from 55 dioceses to St. Leo University, northeast of Tampa, Fla.

About 150 priests attended the second conference in last year at Seattle University.

The mood among these priests, whose average age is 69, [!] seems generally upbeat in the wake of the election of Pope Francis last year. A life size Francis cutout is a major draw with the priests snapping photos between assemblies.

[...]

And to think that I wasn’t invited.

Age discrimination!

God bless them, each and every one.  Sincerely.

And former Father Greg Reynolds is still excommunicated.

Posted in Liberals, Mail from priests, Priests and Priesthood, The future and our choices | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

WDTPRS COLLECT- St. John the Baptist

Posted on 24 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Let’s have a look at the…

COLLECT:
Deus, qui beatum Ioannem Baptistam suscitasti,
ut perfectam plebem Christo Domino praepararet,
da populis tuis spiritalium gratiam gaudiorum,
et omnium fidelium mentes dirige
in viam salutis et pacis.

I like the sound of the ends of the clauses – suscitasti… praepararet… gaudiorum and then a big change with salutis et pacis.   Remember!  These prayers are to be sung!   Suscitasti is, as you now recognize, a syncopated form, short for suscitavi­sti, which would have diminished the rhythmic coherence in the first three clauses.

LITERAL WDTPRS TRANSLATION:
O God, who raised up blessed John the Baptist,
so that he would prepare a perfect people for Christ the Lord,
grant to your peoples the grace of spiritual joys
and guide the minds of all the faithful into the way of salvation and peace.

NEW CORRECTED ICEL (2011):
O God, who raised up Saint John the Baptist
to make ready a nation fit for Christ the Lord,
give your people, we pray,
the grace of spiritual joys
and direct the hearts of all the faithful
into the way of salvation and peace.

This modern Collect of the 1970 Roman Missal is based on the Collect of olden days:

Deus, qui praesentem diem honorabilem nobis in beati Ioannis nativitate fecisti: da populis tuis spiritualium gratiam gaudiorum; et omnium fidelium mentes dirige in viam salutis aeternae.

Perhaps the terrible wars of the 20th century drove the composers of the newer version to include the petition for peace.

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, WDTPRS | Tagged | 2 Comments

Kids Divorce Stories

Posted on 24 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I received this from Jennifer Morse, from the Ruth Institute, whom I saw again during Acton U.

We now have a special blog called Kids Divorce Stories where people can go and write anonymously. about their experiences. I posted a link to this on your facebook page. (I hope you don’t mind my doing that, but there seemed to be a number of people posting things on your wall, some of which contradict each other.)

IN any case, I would be grateful if you would alert your readers to this project. People can go over to Kids Divorce Stories and write about their experiences, anonymously, if they wish. And, if people have friends who are considering divorce, they can invite those friends to go and see what the long-term impact on their kids might prove to be.  In the long run, that use of the site may prove to be the most impactful. If we discourage even a few people from ending a “low-conflict” marriage, I will be truly happy.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Bp. Paprocki’s Pastoral Letter: Ars celebrandi et adorandi

Posted on 23 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

His Excellency Most Rev. Thomas Paprocki of Springfield in Illinois, who is not afraid to use exorcisms, has issued a pastoral letter called Ars celebrandi et adorandi… The art of celebrating and worshiping.  He has taken his title, surely, from Benedict XVI’s paragraphs on ars celebrandi in his post_synodal Exhortation, Sacramentum caritatis.

“But Father! But Father!”, you liberals and progressives out there are by now shouting, “This is TERRIBLE!  Any le… le… letter from hi… him will be rigid and mean!  He hates Vatican II almost as much as YOU!”

Let’s see what the contents may hold!

Apparently, according to Bp. Paprocki, tabernacles belong… imagine this… in a visible place!

23. With this in mind, in order that more of the faithful will be able to spend time in adoration and prayer in the presence of the Eucharistic Lord, I direct that in the churches and chapels of our diocese, tabernacles that were formerly in the center of the sanctuary, but have been moved, are to be returned as soon as possible to the center of the sanctuary in accord with the original architectural design. Tabernacles that are not in the center of the sanctuary or are otherwise not in a visible, prominent and noble space are to be moved to the center of the sanctuary; tabernacles that are not in the center of the sanctuary but are in a visible, prominent and noble space may remain.

The nerve.

On top of that, he tells people GENUFLECT and suggests that there should be EXPOSITION!

This is the New Evangelization.

Fr. Z kudos to Bp. Paprocki.

Posted in "But Father! But Father!", "How To..." - Practical Notes, Just Too Cool, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Mail from priests, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged , , , , , | 23 Comments

Happy Birthday 1962 Missale Romanum, the Missal of St. John XXIII! [puff... sip ... puff]

Posted on 23 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Today is the 52th “birthday” of the 1962 Missale Romanum!

20120623-143946.jpg

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Spiffy!

And because it is the Vigil of my Name Day, I shall enjoy a cigar from a box of small Macanudo from one of you readers (a priest, as a matter of fact, and not one whom you might immediately suspect).  I shall also have to have an adult beverage in honor of this festive occasion!  I don’t have the customary witch to burn in effigy, alas, for this Vigil.  The cigar will have to do.

Keep in mind that if today is anniversary of promulgation, then tomorrow could be the anniversary the Missal’s own “First Mass”. If it was signed and promulgated on 23 June, then it came into force after most priests in Rome had said their morning Masses. Thus, today could have been the first day of its use.

Also, in 1962, 24 June was a Sunday. It seems appropriate that St. John XXIII would want his Missal to go into force on a Sunday which was also the Feast of the Nativity of John.

Posted in Just Too Cool, Linking Back, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

The Vigil of St. John: bonfires and witch burnings, solstices and snails

Posted on 23 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

It is nice to have as your Patron the great Baptist, for I get two feasts a year, his Nativity and his Beheading.

For the Vigil of St. John (today, as I write) in the old Roman Ritual the priest would once bless bonfires!

And in Bavaria, witches are burned!  A priest friend who shares my feast sent me a spiffing photo (below – a little hard to see at this size, but I assure you, there is a witch in there):

 

If you have any unwanted witches, send them to Bavaria next year for a nice vacation.

In other places, cast-off or unneeded things are burned… in a way parallel, I suppose, to throwing things away at the other end of the year after the Winter Solstice.

This is custom calls to mind that many places celebrated the feasts of saints with great festivity.

In any event, have a nice bonfire!  The evening is about as long as the year can offer, so a great party could be had well into the night with much cooking in the open and revelry.

The blessing for the bonfire is beautiful.  After the usual introduction, the priest would bless the fire saying:

Lord God, almighty Father, the light that never fails and the source of all light, sanctify + this new fire, and grant that after the darkness of this life we may come unsullied to you who are light eternal; through Christ our Lord. All: Amen.

At this point the fire is sprinkled with holy water and everyone sings the hymn Ut quaent laxis which is also the Vespers hymn.

It is almost as if the fire, and our celebration, is baptized.

The reference to light and darkness surely harks to the fact of the Solstice, which was just observed. At this point the days get shorter in the Northern Hemisphere.  I looked at that HERE and HERE.

For the feast of St. John in June for centuries the Church has sung at Vespers the hymn beginning Ut queant laxis. 

If you want to hear Ut queant laxis sung “in the wild”, as it were, check out the Benedictines at Norcia, a fine group of men, really living the Benedictine life in the place where Benedict is said to have been born.  HERE.

Those of you who are lovers of the movie The Sound of Music will instantly recognize this hymn as the source of the syllables used in solfège or solmization (the use of syllables instead of letters to denote the degrees of a musical scale). Both the ancient Chinese and Greeks had such a system.

The Benedictine monk Guido d’Arezzo (c. 990-1050) introduced the now familiar syllables ut re mi fa sol la for the tones of the hexachord c to a… or, more modally, the tonic, supertonic, mediant, etc. of a major scale. The Guidonian syllables derive from the hymn for the feast of St. John the Baptist:

UT queant laxis
REsonare fibris
MIra gestorum
FAmuli tuorum,
SOLve polluti
LAbii reatum,
Sancte Ioannes (SI).

After the medieval period (when music became less modal and more tonal) to complete the octave of the scale the other syllable was introduced (si – taken from S-ancte I-oannes, becomes “ti”) and the awkward ut was replaced sometime in the mid 17th c. with do (or also doh – not to be confused in any way with the Homeric Simpsonic epithet so adored by today’s youth, derived as it is from the 21st century’s new liturgical focal point – TV) and do came to be more or less fixed with C though in some cases do remains movable.

So, now you know where Doh, Re, Mi comes from!  Check out this oldie PODCAzT from 2007:

PODCAzT 36: St. Augustine on John the Baptist; Ut queant laxis [ 29:04 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (5601)

It is also good to gather St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) on the feast.  ”Wort” is from Old English wyrt (German Würze), which means “plant”, but is used mostly in compounds.  Since ancient times “singent’s wort” was known to relieve melancholy or depression, as does borage… which every garden should have.  It would be hung above doors, windows and sacred images (hence the hyper-icum ”above image”) to keep witches and evil spirit away.  Burning those witches might have something to do with its effectiveness as well, now that I think about it.

Build a fire tonight, even if you can’t burn a witch, and sing something in honor of St. John!  

Oh! And eat some snails.

It is a Roman custom to eat snails on the Feast of John the Baptist.

And, just in case it has been a while…

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, PODCAzT, Saints: Stories & Symbols | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments

Francis and the Franciscan Friars have a meeting

Posted on 23 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Andrea Tornielli tells us that the Holy Father granted an audience to the embattled Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.

Oddly, we didn’t hear about this meeting before.  It happened on 10 June.  Usually the Pope’s meetings are listed in public sources, such as the Bolletino.

From Vatican Insider with my emphases:

The Pope speaks with the young Franciscans of the Immaculate

The meeting, which lasted an hour and a half, took place on Tuesday 10 June in the chapel of Santa Marta. On the Council, Francis endorsed the hermeneutic proposed by Benedict XVI

ANDREA TORNIELLI
VATICAN CITY

The meeting was held on Tuesday 10 June in the chapel of the Santa Marta Residence in the Vatican, despite the fact the Pope had been feeling under the weather and cancelled some appointments the previous day. For an hour and a half, Francis entertained around sixty Franciscans of the Immaculate, the order founded by father Stefano Manelli that last year the Holy See put under temporary receivership to resolve internal differences regarding the government, administration, relationship with the female branch and the use of the by new exclusive [sic] old missal and the interpretations of the last Council. Around forty seminarists, novitiates, and theology and philosophy students were present, along with their teachers and the pontifical commissioner, [aka Commisar] father Fidenzio Volpi.

The Franciscan Friars sang the Ave Maria di Fatima and renewed in the hands of the Pope their vows of total consecration to the Immaculate. Questions were then put to Francis on the most contested themes regarding the internal operations of the institution. Pope Bergoglio proved to be well informed on all issues, following the matter closely, and several times showed his appreciation for father Volpi, quelling rumours that the actions of the government of the commissioner and his collaborators were undertaken without the Pope’s knowledge. [So, the Pope knew what was going on.]

Following the assignment of commissioners and restrictions applied to the use of the old missal, which, as opposed to what happens under motu proprio “Summorum Pontificum”, in the case of the Franciscans of the Immaculate it can be used without prior authorisation from superiors, there were defections in the friars and the seminarists. Of 400 members in the world, around 40 have requested to be released from their vows, and around half of these are seminarists and therefor still students who had only made temporary vows.

[NB] On the motu proprio, [Summorum Pontificum] Pope Francis said he did not want to deviate from the line of Benedict XVI, and reiterated that the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate remained free to celebrate the old mass, even if for the moment, [?] in light of the controversies surrounding the exclusive right to use that missal – an element that did not constitute part of the founding charisma of the institution – they required “a discernment” with the superior and with the bishop if it concerned celebrations in parish churches, sanctuaries and teaching houses. [Excuse me, but... why?] The Pope explained that there must be freedom, both for those who wish to celebrate with the old rite, and those who wish to celebrate with the new rite, without the rite becoming an ideological banner. [And clearly it had.  But, now that this trip to the woodshed (fairly or unfairly) has been prosecuted, why not just let them get on with life?  Also, if Pope Francis is okay with the juridical changes made by Benedict, then why is the group getting hammered?  Is this a way of testing them?  Is this something that a former Jesuit provincial would do?  Force the group to make choices and test them?]

One question concerned the interpretation of the II Vatican Council. Francis once again expressed his appreciation for the work of Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, defining it as “the best hermeneutic” of the Council. [DI YOU HEAR THAT, FISHWRAP?  Remember what Pope Francis wrote to Marchetto?  HERE] He then responded to the objection according to which the II Vatican would only be a castoral [sic... I don't think "beaver-like" but rather "pastoral"] council, which has damaged the church. The Pope said that although it is has been pastoral, it contains doctrinal elements and is a Catholic council, reaffirming the line of the hermeneutics of reform in the continuity of the one-subject church, presented by Benedict XVI in his speech to the Roman Curia in December 2005. He then reminded them that all councils have provoked uproar and reactions, because the demon “does not want the church to become strong”. ["the demon... il demonio", which is The Devil.] He also said that we must move forwards with a theological and not ideological hermeneutic of the II Vatican.

Francis also said that he had wanted the closure of the theological institute within the Franciscans of the Immaculate (STIM), so that the seminarists would study in the pontifical theology faculties of Rome. He then explained that the Church guarantees orthodoxy through the Pope. [His Holiness, if he thinks that, should pay closer attention to his old colleagues at the Gregorian.]

[...]

Meanwhile, the fact of this meeting makes me scratch my head a little.  What I have been hearing is that some of the men want to leave the FFIs, maybe to form something else, perhaps under the aegis of the PCED.  So, it could be that some people are getting nervous.  Could it be that the powers that be have become aware of how many people are watching the situation of the FFIs?  Could this be damage control?  It’s pretty ugly, after all.

I pray for the peaceful resolution of the situation and the relief of the Friars from the super-invasive aegis of the Congregation.

Posted in Pope Francis, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, The Drill | Tagged , | 22 Comments

Liberals hating on Pope Francis, who just refuses to get with their agenda!

Posted on 23 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Liberals will eventually turn on Pope Francis.  There are even some indications at The Fishwrap that this is starting.

Francis’ style doesn’t seem conservative at all, but he is NOT going to change doctrine. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it were he who issues the document that shoots down the ordination of women to the diaconate, something along the lines of Ordinatio diaconalis.

I just perused this at Salon:

This piece is great. It is a sustained spittle-flecked nutty from top to bottom. Make popecorn [HAH! Such a great typo, I'll leave it!] and enter into a fantasy landscape.

Pope Francis’ new clothes: Why his progressive image is white smoke and mirrors
Don’t buy his populist rhetoric. The new pope is every bit the sexist homophobe as his predecessors

[...]

While the pope transmits a populist vibe—particularly about the economy— he is an old-school conservative who, despite his great PR, maintains nearly all of the socialpolicies of his predecessors and keeps up a hardline Vatican “cabinet.” He has done virtually nothing to change the policies of the church to match his more compassionate rhetoric. People excuse the pope, claiming that he doesn’t have much power to make changes, but this simply isn’t true. Further, it is ludicrous to suggest that a man who denies comprehensive reproductive health care (including all forms of birth control including condoms and abortion) and comprehensive family planning is a man who cares about the poor of this world. The bigotry of homophobia and sexism cloaked in religion are still bigotry and sexism. By giving to the church, American Catholics aren’t supporting “progress,” they are supporting oppression and in this way are complicit in the bigotry, sexism, and oppression of the church.

[...]

The new sexist, nun-hating, poverty-perpetuating, pedophile-protecting homophobe is the same as the old sexist, nun-hating, poverty-perpetuating, pedophile-protecting homophobe, but gosh how the media loves him

[...]

Remember that for secularist liberals, abortion is a sacrament. They want lots of abortion. For catholic liberals, such as the writers and readers of Fishwrap, who eventually and unavoidably verge into being secularists, the ordination of women is the unholy grail.  But even were they to get that (and they won’t), they wouldn’t be satisfied.

Pope Francis is going to say “No” to what liberals want.  Doctrine will not change. They will turn on him.

Posted in Biased Media Coverage, Blatteroons, Liberals, Pope Francis, The Drill, The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice, Throwing a Nutty | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

ASK FATHER: How to support a friend’s vocation to the priesthood

Posted on 23 June 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

Father, I have a close friend who has been as close as a brother to me who is discerning the priesthood. I think he would make a wonderful priest or even religious brother. What steps can I take to encourage him in his path and help him along his way?

Thanks for taking interest in his vocation and not being selfish.  Some people might not want to encourage a friend, from fear that he might not be able to see as much of him should he take that path.

That is also a problem, I think, that some parents have.  I suspect that God will frown on parents who place obstacles before a son’s a vocation to the priesthood.  I’m just sayin’ …

For sure, pray for the guy.  Fast for him.   Have Masses said for him.  The devil, and maybe others, will try to dissuade him from such a path.  Also, speak positively about the priesthood when the topic arises in conversation.  Be supportive.  You support might also extend even to helping with some of the expenses in his formation, although here I must add a cautionary word.

Whenever you give some sort of material or monetary support to a seminarian never never never give the man also the slightest sense that you consider him therefore obliged to continue to Holy Orders if he has arrived at a conclusion that ordination is not for him.  Every man must come to that moment of the laying on of hands with a will that is free and not encumbered by the expectations of those whose opinions he holds dear.  He shouldn’t be burdened with the expectation that just because someone gave money for x or y or z in his formation, he is therefore obliged to continue, when he knows he should not.

Because of this, if it comes to monetary or material support, you might consider asking a third party to be an intermediary.  For example you might give what you want to give to the seminary or the man’s parish, with the understanding that it will be then give to him as from an anonymous donor, and so forth.

I am not here talking about birthday presents or the like.  I raise this in case the man has, for example, debts from university that he is still paying off, or his car is a wreck and he needs something new.  That sort of thing.

Also, as a concrete sign of solidarity, you might join a local Serra Club, which fosters vocations to the priesthood.

I hope everyone out there will be generous in spirit when it comes to vocations to the priesthood.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Our Catholic Identity, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments