What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

I’ll get to the oddity but first a pretty picture.

Let me preface this by saying there are robins right now.  I have never seen so many robins.

I got a few snaps in the dimming light, but these are fairly good.





Click for larger image.

Clearly they are flocking before their migration southward. 

It was odd.

All of these were taken with my phone and this post was created directly from my phone.

BTW… today at the Vatican Basilica it is the feast of Bl. John XXIII.



Today is also the 46th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

I found a very engaging post at Damian Thompson’s place Holy Smoke:

Let’s have a glance with my emphases and comments.

The fight against Futurechurch: seminarians

Posted By: Damian Thompson at Oct 10, 2008 at 14:38:45

Do you know what makes liberal Catholic clergy wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night? It’s not the return of the Tridentine Mass. It’s not the fact that Ratzinger is Pope. It’s not their rapidly dwindling congregations.


Seminarians are taking over the world

What terrifies the old trendies is a new generation of conservative seminarians, who are gradually turning into a new generation of conservative priests - just as the supply of liberals is drying up.  [This is certainly the case in the USA as well.  The seminary I was in the US was a hell-hole of heresy and sheer dopiness.  But then the student body began to shift.  The faculty simply couldn’t throw that many guys out, and word was getting back to bishops about how bad things were there.  Slowly but surely the student body changed the seminary, and eventually the bishop made some changes as well, good ones.  Now that seminary is for the most part sound.  The aging hippies now openly lament the loss of their 60’s dreams and mutter gloomy warnings about how "conserrrrrvativvvve" the seminarians now are.]

Until very recently, seminaries managed to screen out the more orthodox candidates. "Psychologically immature" was the code for "obedient to the Magisterium", and so effective was the process that dozens of vocations were successfully squashed. In the 1980s and 90s, English seminaries were run by a grey-shirted Magic Circle politburo, assisted (not to say bullied) by frightful middle-aged women whose liturgical preferences were only just the right side of Wicca.  [LOL!  Well put.  But I must say that they weren’t to the right of Wicca where I was.  At our place there were invocations of the "earth mother goddess", "Sophia", and the "Bringer of Light" – all blended with tacky silliness.]

One or two conservatives slipped through the net, by hiding copies of Fortescue under their beds and slipping each other photographs of fiddleback chasubles that they could admire in private. In public, however, they were careful to wear the seminary uniform of jeans and CND T-shirt, and even to swallow the Bitter Pill without gagging.  [The "Bitter Pill" is the lefty UK weekly "The Tablet".]

But times are changing. Dreary Leftist seminary rectors have retired or became Magic Circle bishops, the Wiccan "pastoral advisers" have fallen out of favour, and conservative candidates for the seminary have started presenting themselves faster than they can be turned down. "It’s a bit like the Somme - no sooner have you wiped out one wave of infantry than another appears," says my source.  [LOL!]

Futurechurch is losing this battle. Some Magic Circle rectors are ready to run up the white flag. I could mention a couple of English seminaries where orthodox doctrine is taught pretty rigorously. That’s in sharp contrast to the situation 20 years ago. (As one London priest told me this week, "I came away from seminary knowing only two things - that St Augustine of Hippo and St Augustine of Canterbury were different people, and that Julian of Norwich was a woman.")

The other day, I saw a photograph of seminarians and staff at Allen Hall, Westminster. I reckon you could tell just by looking at them that the students were more conservative than their teachers. [YES] The same is true of the Venerable English College in Rome, where – perhaps because it is a breeding ground for bishops – the Magic Circle is clinging on to power. "Students still have to don a false beard if they slip out to attend a Tridentine Mass," I’m told. [I think rubber nose and glasses might work better.]

Some of the really Left-wing dioceses have adopted a disgraceful tactic: rather than put forward conservative candidates for ordination, they’ve stopped looking for future priests completely. Hence all this guff about "lay empowerment": the lay people being empowered are all "made men" (if I can use such a sexist term) in the mafia of the mediocre.

But don’t despair. Conservative seminarians are getting ordained, and in a few years’ time the dioceses will run out of goody-goody Tabletistas on whom to bestow plum parishes. And then, who knows? A conservative bishop? Stranger things have happened.

Just what are the odds these days on His Hermenuticalness being named the next Archbishop of Westminster?  Are odds still being offered?

A question via e-mail:

With the common occurrence of white vestments at funerals and a corresponding color funeral pall, I wondered about the practice of a black funeral pall for the OF. While black vestments can be used for funerals in the OF, can the funeral pall also be black as it was in the EF? Is the connection between the white funeral pall and the white garment worn at baptism something that might prevent the use of a black funeral pall?

 

Yes… we must remember that before the post-Conciliar innovations the pall, if one was used, was always black, as were the draperies for a catafalque.

I do not believe in the new rite the color of the pall is prescribed.  I have seen various palls, most white, but some of other colors, of elaborate fabrics, brocade, etc. 

The idea behind white is that the last "clothing" of the body echoes the first "clothing" with the white baptismal garment in the rite of baptism. 

However, I haven’t seen anywhere – maybe I simply missed it – anything that prescribes that the color of the pall must be white in the Novus Ordo.

I assume a black pall could be used in the newer funeral rites.

Another happy announcement.  We have now a Danish rendering of the Internet Prayer.

DANISH:

Bøn før du logger på internettet:
Almægtige evige Gud
Du som har skabt os i dit billede,
og opfordret os til at søge det som er godt, sandt og skønt,
specielt i din enbårne søn,
vor Herres Jesu Kristi, guddommelige person.
Vi beder at du,
gennem den hellige biskop og kirkelærer Isidors forbøn,
vil gøre det sikkert at vi på vores rejser gennem internettet
retter hænder og øjne mod det du finder behageligt,
og at vi behandler alle vi møder med kærlighed og tålmodighed.
Ved Kristus vor Herre. Amen.

I am always happy to receive new translations.  Check the Internet Prayer Page to see what has already been provided.

Also, I always pleased when native speakers of languages also provide an audio file of the prayers read in their tongue.

This comes via Facebook from a priest reader:

What can you tell me about the use of the amice over the surplice for deacon chaplains and Assisting Priests? The AP at my first Mass wore the amice that way.

There isn’t really too much to say.

There are a few occasions wherein there may be an assistant priest, such as when a bishop pontificates or for the first three solemn Masses of a newly ordained priest.  The assistant does certain things with, for example, the book and especially in the case of the newly ordained, makes sure he doesn’t make a grave mistake.

In this screen capture you can see an assistant priest to the left, in the cope.



Again… the AP is on the left, though he has his cope properly closed over his knees so that you cannot see the cassock.  The deacon "chaplains" sitting with the Cardinal in this shot have their surplices.





He dresses in his cassock, with a surplice (or rochette if can wear one).  He put on the amice over the surplice and then the cope.  I think the idea is that it is he not quite a sacred minister in the sense that the celebrant and deacon and subdeacon are.  He is sort of in between being an MC and a sacred minister.  The amice?  Dunno… that’s just the way it is.

You might be interested to know that in olden times, in processions, priests and deacons used to wear the vestment of their rank, chasuble or dalmatic, but over the surplice, not over an alb, also with the amice over the surplice.

I was alerted to this very good item on the website of the Diocese of Tulsa. 

Bishop Slattery continues to impress. 

You will remember his statement after pro-abortion Catholics Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) and VP candidate Sen. Biden (D-DE) made their scandalous gafs about the Church’s teaching on life.

You will remember his strong instruction about sacred music.

Now there is this spiritual approach to give support to priests of the diocese.

Potential Spiritual Mothers Join to Pray, Learn About Roles

Sheila Michie, at center, joins in praying the rosary with other women who are discerning whether to become spiritual mothers to the priests of the Diocese of Tulsa.

10/10/2008 – EOC Staff

Nearly three dozen women of all ages will spend the next three months discerning whether God might be calling them to the vocation of spiritual motherhood to the priests of the Diocese of Tulsa. If they believe He has given them this vocation, they will spend the month of January in spiritual formation, deepening their prayer lives in preparation for their blessing by Bishop Edward J. Slattery on Sunday, Feb. 1.

The women who will begin their discernment traveled from across the Diocese on Oct. 7 for a Night of Reflection at Holy Family Cathedral offered by Father Mark Kirby, o.Cist. The focus of the evening’s prayer and reflection was the relationship that exists between Our Lord and his Blessed Mother, who was privileged to share in a unique way in her Son’s paschal Mystery. Father Kirby explained that from the cross, Our Lord, the Eternal High Priest, entrusted his disciple John into Our Lady’s maternal care, even as St. John assumed his new role of priest of the new covenant.

The vocation of a spiritual mother, Father Kirby said, is to sustain and support the Church’s priests in the same way Our Lady loved and supported her divine Son and her adopted sons like St. John. Spiritual motherhood “has nothing to do with doting on or mothering a priest,” Father Kirby said. Rather, a priest’s spiritual mother would offer herself to God, praying in intercession and reparation for him, spending time in Eucharistic Adoration and becoming “a point though which an abundance of God’s graces might flow to bless the priest and sanctify his work.

“This is the vocation being offered to you this evening. It’s not something that should be taken on lightly or without solid preparation.”

The program of spiritual motherhood is part of a Vatican effort proposed by Cardinal Claudio Hummes of the Congregation for the Clergy to draw on the link between the Eucharist and the priesthood – first, by establishing diocesan centers of Eucharistic Adoration and – secondly, by fostering the vocation of spiritual motherhood, in the example of Our Lady. Cistercian Father Mark Kirby gave two notable examples of consecrated feminine souls who lived out the vocation of spiritual motherhood. The first is the most popular saint of the 20th century, St. Therese of Lisieux. The second is the relatively obscure Margaret Mary Mathers, a widow, who offered herself as a spiritual mother for Padre Pio.

In discussing the program’s practical details, Father Kirby said that the women might never know the identity of the priest or seminarian they adopt, but emphasized that the hidden nature of the women’s commitment adds to its power. “Most likely, you will never lay eyes on the priests you are praying into holiness, but I promise you that you will see their faces in Heaven.”

In discerning the question of whether God has given them this vocation, the women will meet with Father Kirby on each of the four Tuesday nights of January to pray and reflect on the meaning of this life of prayer, penance and loving reparation. Thereafter, the spiritual mothers of the diocese would likely meet “ no more than three or four times a year.”

Among the women present Oct. 7 were Sister Christine Ereiser, O.S.B., prioress of St. Joseph Monastery with Sister Eugenia Brown and Sister Veronica Sokolosky, from St. Joseph’s Monastery, Tulsa.

“A couple of the sisters are interested, and so I came along,” Sister Christine said. “I’m very open to it; we’ll see what God has in store.”

Father Kirby stressed that any mature woman could become a spiritual mother, including single women, married women with children, widows and consecrated religious. For information on the nights of formation to be offered in January, please call 307-4955 or divine.worship@dioceseoftulsa.org

 

This is the first I have heard of this type of program in a diocese in the USA.   Perhaps there are others, but I have not come across them.

I must say I am grateful for such a powerful initiative.

From Facebook:

Dear Fr. Z,

The priest that celebrates de EF in Buenos Aires, has decided today to do it versus populum quoting a work of Card. Ratzinger that says that the cross must be the focal point or liturgical east. He also says that the rubrics of JXXIII’s missal doesn’t prescribe to celebrate the mass "ad orientem". Is this all right? What can we say to him?
Please, forgive my poor english and thank you very much!

No, there is nothing that requires the TLM (EF) to be celebrated ad orientem.  In Roman Basilicas it was celebrated versus populum because of the way the altar was situated in the sanctuary: on the model of San Pietro, where the celebrant stood at the main altar so as to face the East.  In the ancient Basilica of St. Peter, the people would be directed to turn around also to face the East during the action of the Mass.  So… celebration of Holy Mass to the liturgical East is important in the Roman way of seeing things.

However, nothing specifically prescribes ad orientem worship… though in my opinion it is superior. 

The other thing to consider, and this is important, the sensibilities of the people in the congregation should be considered.  If the people would be upset by an versus populum Mass with the EF, then it probably wouldn’t be a good idea.   There is no sense in doing that merely as a novelty or for shock value, or even because of the priest’s own preference.   The TLM and ad orientem are closely connected.

Pray.

A kind reader has sent me the second update of the day!  Feast or famine, it seems.

I am pleased to share with you the Internet Prayer in Norwegian.  I am hoping to audio files of these prayers as well.

Bønn før en logger seg på internett:

Allmektige evige Gud,
Du som har skapt oss i ditt bilde,
og oppfordret oss til å søke det som er godt, sant og vakkert,
spesielt i din enbårne Sønns,
vår Herres Jesu Kristi, gudommelige person.
Vi ber at du,
gjennom den hellige biskop og kirkelærer Isidors forbønn,
vil gjøre det slik at vi på våre reiser gjennom internettet
retter hender og øyne mot det du finner velbehagelig,
og at vi behandler alle vi møter med kjærlighet og tålmodighet.
Ved Kristus vår Herre. Amen

I was clued to this from Dealbreaker by a friend.  Very funny:

Paulson To Use Superpowers Sooner Than Expected

In a raft of measures, that aren’t desperate (no really, we swear) Hank Paulson is set to issue what looks to be a general "term sheet" in the next few days for all financial institutions needing an thick injection of syrupy cash, or three.

Apparently, the power and flexibility Paulson possesses to complete these transactions has taken some by surprise. (People, we went over this once already. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 renames Paulson "Kal-El" and, because of his proximity to our yellow sun, grants him powers mortals could only dream of. Especially when it comes to syrupy capital injections). There is concern among many legislators that there was far too little opportunity for hand-wringing and grandstanding with lots of cameras and microphone thingies pointing before Paulson stole the show. Damn that Paulson and his financial crisis!

There is some grumbling (read: preparatory leaks) that Paulson might go so far as to nationalize crumbling banks as well, which should silence all the snickering that has been going on since Northern Rock was smothered in the ample bosom of the crown earlier this year.

Then there is the discussion of backing all bank deposits in the United States. It’s all the rage, you know.

No word yet on the use of X-Ray vision to see into balance sheets from afar.