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

Not well today, though it is as beautiful as an early spring day can be.   I spent part of it finishing Michael D. O’Brien book Island of the World.  I received mail from Rome of offprints of scholarly articles penned by a friend of mine. 

But I was lifted up today by the arrival of the UPS truck bearing a copy of The Quest for Shakespeare by Joseph Pearce and Ancient Rhetoric and Oratory by Thomas Habinek.  Both are items from my wish list.  I thank you.  On dismally beautiful days such as this, these surprises help.

ADDENDUM:

A remarkable thing happened on my long trudge out to the mail box. 

As a neared a small landscaped area with some shrubs toward the end of the drive, there was a swift assertive THWIP sound past my ear as a falcon or perhaps harrier swooped upon its prey, in this case a sparrow pecking on the ground.  The sparrow did an incredible tight circle of avoidance and thus lived to chirp a while longer.  The falcon, probably to small to be a hawk, thus thwarted, did not linger.

Our friend John Sonnen in Rome, who has Orbis Catholicus gives us the following news:

It is with great joy that the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter announces the opening of a personal parish in the Diocese of Rome.

The decree of erection of the parish, which is dated Easter day of 2008, states that in conformity with art. 10 of Summorum Pontificum, “and after having received the proposal of the Cardinal Vicar, the Holy Father has established that in the central sector of the Diocese of Rome, in the 1st District, and in a fitting place of worship, namely, the Church of Ss. Trinità dei Pellegrini . . . should be erected a personal parish, in order to guarantee proper pastoral care for the entire community of Traditionalist faithful residing in the same Diocese.

The Fraternity of St. Peter is deeply grateful to the Holy Father and his Vicar, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, to be entrusted with this parish in the See of Peter. Of the many dioceses where it serves, this is the tenth apostolate which has been erected as a full personal parish, and the first in Europe. It is hoped that this particular parish will serve not only the local parishioners, but that it will also provide a fine example of the beauty and solemnity of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite to the many pilgrims and students in Rome. Rev. Joseph Kramer, FSSP, has been appointed as the first pastor of the parish Ss. Trinità dei Pellegrini, Rector of the venerable Archconfraternity of the same name, and Rector of the church.

The installation of Fr. Kramer as pastor, and official opening Mass of the parish will take place on June 8, 2008. The Fraternity of St. Peter asks for your prayers in carrying out these new duties towards the faithful, and the Diocese of Rome.

 

WDTPRS kudos to the group and the men who have all this time been helping out at S. Gregorio.  These folks are top drawer and they have made their apostolate a warm and good place to be. 

If you are looking for reasons why we really needed Summorum Pontificum – well – let’s also say the GIRM then take a look at this video which I found at Orate Fratres.

The video is from the May 2008 Call To Action meeting in San Jose, CA.

Many many years ago people attending the midnight Mass for Christmas at the St. Paul Cathedral in St. Paul, MN, were treated before Mass to a giant puppet show by, I am not making this up, The Heart of the Beast puppet troupe. They chose a theme connected to the mystery of the Nativity, namely, the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. This giant puppet thing (people had to be able to see them) seems to be medieval, probably having to do with miracle and mystery plays and so forth.  It was strange, but at least it was before Mass.

This thing, however… well… damn!  That’s just wrong.

I picked up this piece from the National Catholic Register.  I beleive the author is associated with St. Mary’s in Greenville, SC, where the pastor, Fr. Newman, has been doing the excellent work of helping his parish return to ad orientem worship. 

WDTPRS gives highest kudos to the goings on at St. Mary’s and the work of all the priests there.  That said, let’s have a look at the following, with my emphases and comments.

Why America Needs the Pope

BY Father Dwight Longenecker

April 20-26, 2008 Issue | Posted 4/15/08 at 12:43 PM

The “three-legged stool” is the way Anglicans explain their understanding of authority in the church. The three legs are Scripture, Tradition and Human Reason.

At first, this sounds like a pretty good basis for making decisions. The difficulty, however, is that without a trustworthy external authority all three of the legs are shaky.

Scripture on its own can be used to prove most anything. Both sides have an interpretative tradition that skews the Scripture toward their pre-determined conclusions. The interpretation of Scripture is therefore dependent on the prior assumptions.

If you are in favor of homosexuality you interpret the Scripture one way. If opposed you interpret it another way.

The same is true of the other two legs of the Anglican stool. Tradition and Human Reason should be external forces that shape the minds and hearts of believers. Instead, the hearts are already determined and the minds are already made up.

Subsequently, Tradition is mined for evidence to support one’s case, and Human Reason is used as a tool to win debates, manipulate the evidence, weight the argument and twist the truth.

The result is not a three-legged stool, but a theological pogo stick.  [A good analogy.  Perhaps Card. Kasper could use it when speaking with the Anglicans.]

This is why Anglicanism is in such disarray. Extend the image: Think of every Anglican prelate, bishop, theologian and priest in a desperate race each on his own pogo stick. Each one is desperately jumping around trying to keep his balance, trying to stay on his pogo stick while at the same time trying to make forward progress and fight the other fellows in the race to the finish line.   [Father starts by talking about Anglicans to make a point about what happens when the Petrine ministry is not given sufficient respect.  Then he moves to Catholics.]

Lest Catholics be accused of smug self-righteousness, we have much of the same problem in the Catholic Church today.

Catholics of all stripes are devoted to causes of all kinds that they put before the authority of the Church.

The “Rad Traddies” have a whole range of causes and beliefs ranging from sedevacantism to enthusiasm for traditional devotions, right-wing causes and the traditional Latin Mass.

“Rad Trendies” have a whole range of causes from homosexual rights, women priests, Marxist theory and liturgical reform.

[The word "Rad" in here is a problem.  It suggests an extreme.  But I don’t think it is necessarily true that people who desire the TLM or "traditional devotions" are "rad".  I certainly think that "sedevacantism" is "rad", but if someone is has a devotion to the Most Holy Rosary, is he "rad"?  Probably not.  Also, I am a little disturbed by the moral equivalence the author sets up here between, on the one hand, the TLM and traditional devotions (both of which are legitimate things – nay rather – recommended to a certain extent by the Successor of Peter, and on the other hand, women priests (impossible and wrong), Marxist theory (wrong and probably wicked) and, at least in its more deviant form, homosexual rights.  I admit that sedevacantism is off the tracks, but it is simply wrong to set up moral equivalence between these two sets by calling them both "extreme" or "rad".]

Both ends of the extreme (and lots of people in between) are sincere people. [This sounds a bit like a handful of dirt being thrown in both directions.] They are prayerful people. They all believe they are led by the Holy Spirit. They wholeheartedly believe that Scripture, Tradition and Reason are on their side. But they have all fallen into the Anglican error of using Scripture, Tradition and Human Reason as a resource for proof texts, precedents from the past and sensible reasons for support of their particular cause.  [?]

So the proof texts fly. The examples from the past are presented. The rationale is explained and the reasoning laid out, but no one is convinced. All that happens is that both sides return to their corner, gather their arguments and wait for the bell for the next round.

This is why the modern Church so desperately needs, not a three-legged stool, but the Chair of Peter.  [Did the author just pit a lot of people against what he considers is the true role and nature of the Petrine ministry?]

The Chair of Peter has four legs: Scripture, Tradition, Human Reason and I would add, Facts — Common Sense. On top of these four legs is the seat into which they all fit, and this — to extend the metaphor — is the magisterium. The magisterium is the united, continuous, living, universal teaching authority of the Catholic Church.

The magisterium keeps Tradition, Scripture, Human Reason and Facts together and in balance. The magisterium prevents Scripture, Tradition and Human Reason from becoming proof text mines for people with preset agendas.

To show that the Chair of Peter is not simply a museum piece, someone sits on it: the pope, [Pope Benedict?] the successor of Peter. The reason the pope is so important to modern Christianity is because he is one person who, through depth of knowledge, breadth of vision, wealth of advice and expertise, can see the big picture. [This Pope, a