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

I have recently learned from the blog of The Hornéd One, that the Devil hates Latin.

Well, I already knew that.  Still, repetita iuvant, right?

Remember, that the Devil’s hate for us is so great that he will endure even the agony of proximity to sacramentals and even the Eucharist just to have a chance to get at us.  So, I say let’s make him suffer as much as we possibly can.  And what better way to do that then use lots of Latin?  Latin is, after all, the preferred language for the annoying of all those who are wicked.
 
Still, a quip or two from Ol’ Scratch’s blog will convince even the scoffer.

The Sniveller had some hard drive problems.  I think it must have been due to all the people reading about Latin on this blog.  Perpend:

My hard drive crashed. I still haven’t gotten a new one. I think it had something to do with the fact that Catholics are praying in Latin. That, and its really really hot down here, which can’t be good for a computer either.

The Deceivéd One also offered this:

Not only is it holy week, which ends with one of the only days where every Catholic goes to church, but that damn Catechism Compendium thing came out. It even has prayrs in latin! Freaking Latin! I HATE LATIN!

Well, folks, there it is.

Let’s all recite together the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel just to irritate the Enemy, and throw some Holy Water around while you’re at it:

Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in praelio.
Contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.
Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur.
Tuque princeps militiae caelestis,
Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos,
qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo
divina virtute in infernum detrude.
Amen.

Friday in the 4th Week of Easter

COLLECT:
Deus, qui et libertatis nostrae auctor es et salutis,
exaudi supplicantium voces,
et, quos sanguinis Filii tui effusione redemisti,
fac, ut per te vivere
et perpetua in te valeant incolumitate gaudere.

Incolumnitas is, according to the mighty Lewis & Short Dictionary, "good condition, soundness, safety".  However, Blaise/Dumas indicates its liturgical force as "salut (materiél et spirit.)".  Incolumitas, used heavily by classical authors by Livy, Cicero, Caesar, etc. especially in political contexts, is paried at time in classical writings by Livy and Cicero with libertas which we find in the first line.  The Fathers too, and medieval writers, make frequent use of this word.  In this prayer, incolumitas describes the state of being of a person who is enjoying the bliss of heaven, so I don’t think a one to one word rendering is fair to its content.  This prayer has an antecedent in the Missale Gothicum. 

LITERAL:
O God, who are the author of our freedom and salvation,
graciously listen to the voices of those humbly praying,
and, cause it to be that
those whom You redeemed by the sheding of the Blood of Your Son
may be able to live by means of You
and to rejoice in You in the state of perpetual heavenly wellbeing.

All good things and human initiatives come from God and have God as their best end.  He was the creator of the liberty of our will, written into our nature as His images, the first liberty of our innocence and sinless state, and the second liberty as members of His People enjoying the benefits of the protective covenants He grants us.  In heaven, we will have another kind of liberty, one untrammeled by the wounds inflicted on our human nature by our first parents.  We will enjoy perfection and agility of body and mind, ease of will, all informed by our sight of God, the highest good.

The freedom we enjoy now as sons and daughters of God still in this vale of tears comes from the willingness of the God made man to be a “slave” for our sins.  Our freedom, present and future, was bought at the price of the shedding of His Blood, a Sacrifice made by Him with perfect freedom. 

Though Christ freely shed His Blood for all who have ever lived or ever will live, in the end not all will accept the benefits Christ won by His Sacrifice.  Many will accept them, but not all… not all.

I am under siege by telephone and e-mail.  People are asking me what is going on at St. Agnes. 

There is a lot of misinformation flying around.  Rumors build on rumors in the manner of the game "Telephone".  One person referred to this as the St. Agnes Massacre.  I don’t think that sort of thing is very helpful. 

I can offer somethings I know to be facts.

The pastor of St. Agnes, Fr. George Welzbacher, has issued a letter which explains what is going on.  Fr. Welzbacher would NOT print and distribute anything that isn’t true.  I have had conversations with those involved as well.

Fr. Welzbacher has explained (both in print and to me) that at his age of 78 he does not consider himself to be the right man to take care of St. Agnes, which is a very big job indeed.  He ASKED to be moved to a smaller parish and the Archbishop granted his request.  He will go to St. John’s on the east side of St. Paul, not back to St. Nicholas in New Market as some people have speculated.

The new pastor of St. Agnes will be Fr. John Ubel.  I have known Fr. Ubel for many years.  He is a highly intelligent, highly respected, and accomplished priest.  He has been involved in Catholic education and is an excellent teacher.  He has a great love of music and the Church’s Latin liturgy.  No one need fear that Fr. Ubel will dismantle what has been accomplished at St. Agnes over the decades of service of Msgr. Bandas, Msgr. Schuler and Fr. Welzbacher.  People have reason to be very happy for this appointment.

I also have known for years Fr. Randy Kasel who will be the assistant at St. Agnes.  The Archbishop could not have made a better choice.

Most of the controversy in this matter surrounds Fr. Altier. 

Fr. Altier is not going to be assigned to parish work at this point.  He will be at Regina Medical Center in Hastings, Minnesota.  Fr. Altier has offered a reaction elsewhere and I take him at his word when he offers his explanations.  Whatever the motives of the Archdiocese were for this assignment, I think it is fair that we take Fr. Altier at his word when he says something. 

Has Fr. Altier struck anyone who is paying attention to him to be the sort of fellow who thinks one thing and says another publicly?