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

So… Souter first?

On this feast of St. Pope Pius V (+1572) I drill into one of his most famous acts as Roman Pontiff.  Today we look into and listen to his Apostolic Constitution Quo primum, by which he promulgated the editio princeps of the Missale Romanum.

This history changing document came out of turbulent times.  The Council of Trent had just closed and Pius, as Pope, was tasked with the standardization of the Church’s liturgy as a bulwark against attacks on the Catholic Faith on many fronts.   Catholic identity was shaken by the theological revolt in the north, uncertain teachings, lack of unity in the expression of worship and even the menace of invasion by Islamic armies.

Because there is a reciprocal relation between what we believe and how we pray, our worship plays a key role in the shaping and maintaining of our Catholic identity in a difficult world.

However, centuries after the editio princeps of the "Tridentine" Roman Missal, decades after Paul VI issued his own Apostolic Constitution for the promulgation of the so-called Novus Ordo of the Roman Rite, confusing claims remain about the juridical force of Pius V’s Quo primum. 

Some people maintained that Paul VI absolutely abolished the older, traditional "Tridentine" form of Mass with his own Constitution Missale Romanum.

Some people maintain that Pius V’s Quo primum can never be abrogated or abolished or modified even by other Popes and that it still has force of law.

While not trying to get too canonical, we drill into the questions, draw some conclusions, and hear the words of Pius V in their 16th century splendor.

You may surprised at how modern some of the saintly Pope’s actions sound.

http://www.wdtprs.com/podcazt/09_04_30.mp3

Many less predictable things have happened.

I don’t know who wrote/translated this, for the English is not without its problems.

This is from CathNews.

Agca says he is now a Catholic
Published: April 30, 2009

In a letter written from a Turkish prison, Mehmet Ali Agca, author of the failed attempt against Pope John Paul II in 1981, claims to have renounced Islam and embraced the Catholic faith.

Italian weekly Diva e people donna [sic] published the letter, French journal 7s7 reports.

"I am looking for an Italian woman, who wants to correspond with me. Obviously (I hope) she is Catholic because from May 13 2007, I decided to renounce the Muslim faith and becoming a member of the Roman Catholic Church," Agca writes. [sic]

"I have decided to return peacefully to the (St Peter’s) square and to testify to the world of my conversion to Catholicism," he says in the letter written in Italian.

"Just for a day, I would wish to return to Rome to pray at the tomb of John Paul II to express my filial appreciation for his forgiveness," he adds.

Questioned by AFP in Turkey, his former lawyer Mustafa Demirbag, said he was "very skeptical" about the conversion, given the steps required to receive baptism.

Ali Agca also claimed to have expressed his desire to visit St Peter’s Square to Pope Benedict XVI, without having received "no response to date". [sic] He also claimed to have informed the Vatican of his conversion.

"For the Vatican, I may still be the man who tried to assassinate the Polish Pope, but now I have changed, I am a different man," he says.

Pope Benedict’s general prayer intention for May is: "That the laity and the Christian communities may be responsible promoters of priestly and religious vocations."

His mission intention is: "That the recently founded Catholic Churches, grateful to the Lord for the gift of faith, may be ready to share in the universal mission of the Church, offering their availability to preach the Gospel throughout the world."

COLLECT 2002MR:
Deus, qui in Ecclesia tua beatum Pium papam
ad fidem tuendam ac te dignius colendum
providus excitasti,
da nobis, ipso intercedente,
vivida fide ac fructuosa caritate
mysteriorum tuorum esse participes.

The serviceable Lewis & Short reminds us how complicated colo is.  First, don’t confuse colo with colo.  Colo, with a long first o, is 1st conjugation, colo, colare.  Colo, with a short first o, is 3rd conjugation and has the principle parts colo, colui, cultum.  Whence come the English words "cultivate" and "cult", agricultural and religious terms.  The Latin word reveals the most ancient… er… roots of religion in the cultivation of the land.  Our colo means not only "to cultivate, till, tend, take  care of a field, garden, etc." as well as "to regard one with care, i. e. to honor, revere, reverence, worship, etc.".  The meanings converge in phrases such as "colere aliquem locum, to frequent, cherish, care for, protect, be the guardian of, said of places where [the gods] were worshipped, had temples, etc."

Fructuosa "abounding in fruit, fruitful, productive, profitable, advantageous" comes from one of famous set of verbs which is contrued with an ablative that functions rather like an object, the deponent fruor.  People who are interested in studying Pope John Paul II’s "theology of the body" will know the contrast between fruor "to have the use and enjoyment" of something and utor, which is "use".  John Paul used these verbs to explain the difference between "using" another person as an object or respecting the dignity of another and still having the enjoyment of them as subjects of their own actions.  Here the "fruitful" of fructuosa is linked with caritas, "charity", which is the theological virtue which reflects the sacrificial love Christ exemplified on the Cross.  Christ’s sacrificial love is the most fruitful of all.  My mind drifts on this current to the phrase of Caesarius of Arles: "O crux beata, et beatos efficiens! o crux, cuius tantus ac talis decerpitur fructus! fructus autem crucis, gloriae est resurrectio."

Vividus is "containing life, living, animated; full of life, lively, vigorous, vivid".

LITERAL VERSION:
O God, who, provident, 
raised up in Your Church blessed Pope Pius
in order to defend the faith and and You be more worthily worshiped,
grant us, he interceding,
with a lively faith and fruitful charity.
to be participants of Your mysteries.

The phrase ad tuendam fidem should strike you as familiar.  This is also a title of a document from Pope John Paul by which he inserted some canons into the 1983 Code of Canon Law.  He required that those who accept offices make a profession of Catholic faith and that those who deny truths of faith taught by the Magisterium should be punished with a suitable penalty.

Pius V fulfilled the order of the Council of Trent that the liturgy be reformed.  He promulgated a revised version of the Roman liturgy for the whole Church.  He maintained the rights of priests in those places where there was a time-honored rite to continue their use as well. 

Pius also defended the Faith.  He guided a Counter-Reformation against the Hugenots.   He condemned the errors of Baius.  He tried to support the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots. He initiated the league which defeated threatening Islamic forces at Lepanto.

Pius understood that defense of the Faith, defense from attacks both physical and theological, defense of Catholic identity and integrity, also depended on fostering proper worship.  The Collect stresses the concept of mystery, the sacred mysteries which must be at the heart of proper worship.  Worship must at some point bring us to an encounter with Mystery.  If worship doesn’t not make this possible, it has failed in its purpose.

The vividus in our Collect calls to mind what I believe Pope Benedict is also trying to do.  Pius V helped to defend Christian Europe from extinction under the onslaught of Islam.  Benedict has also been trying to frame the parameters of the struggle for the heart and soul of Europe, whose identity depends on the recognition of its Christian roots.  Pius reformed the Church’s worship with the 1570 Missale Romanum.  Pope Benedict has defended the "Tridentine" structure of Catholic worship by the provisions of Summorum Pontificum.  That vividus, in the sense of "vigorous", applies perfectly to what Pius did.  I think that Pope Benedict is trying to "reinvigorate" our Catholic identity in a deeply troubled world.  Pope Benedict is also striving to make our Catholic worship more worthy (dignius) of the name. 

Consider the continuity which exists within the long line of the Successors of Peter.  Each one, despite human weaknesses, has been given the task of defending the Faith.  Pray for Pope Benedict today, especially through the intercession of Pope Pius V.

From a reader in Mexico, a followup on the question about reception of Communion during an epidemic:

I would like to start by saying thanks for the answer you gave me about Communion in time of epidemics and also specially for your prayers and asking for prayers from your readers.

This are turning very difficult due to the swine flu epidemic specially in Mexico City. Today President Felipe Calderon ordered to close from May 1 to 5 nonessential government offices, private businesses throughout the Country, except supermarkets, pharmacies and gas stations. This measure in order to avoid large crowds gathering and possible infected patients to spread the disease even further.

Since Friday everybody is wearing masks to avoid infection, as days go by and many activities are suspended, the streets are starting to look emptier every day. Economic and psychological consequences are starting to appear due to the restrictions. The infected patients and death toll is increasing every day, and no one knows what will come, but the emergency measures seem to be starting to work very slowly in some areas.

I am sending you as attachment pictures of ¨The Christ of health¨ procession that took place around the boundaries of the Mexico City´s Cathedral last Sunday, and without prior notice in order to avoid large crows. The last time it was taken on procession was in 1691, (this occasion is the third time in history) during a smallpox epidemic. Cardinal Norbeto Rivera also wrote a prayer asking for the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe that we are praying as a novena that will end next Monday.

During the pasts days I have been praying for you and your readers especially at Mass. I really thank you and your readers for your prayers and I ask you to continue as well.

Have a blessed Easter, and again I tell you I am really grateful for your prayers and attention to this email.

Have you ever put a message in a bottle and thrown it into the ocean?  Buried it to be retrieved later?  Or not?

Message in a bottle from the Holocaust
On September 9, 1944 seven young men buried a message in a bottle at the Auschwitz death camp.

By Spero News 

Near the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Polands, workers found a message in a bottle written by prisoners, Written in pencil and sealed in a bottle, the message was dated September 9, 1944 and bears the names, camp numbers and hometowns of seven young detainees hailing from Poland and France. Officials of the museum at the site said that the bottle had been buried in a concrete wall in a school that slave laborers were forced to repair.

The note reads “All of them are between the ages of 18 and 20,” in reference to the young men who left a trace of their existence in a place where 1.1 million people were exterminated. The victims were largely Jews from throughout Europe, but also Gypsies and non-Jewish Poles.

Six of the prisoners were from Poland and one was from France. The note gives the names as: Bronislaw Jankowiak, Stanislaw Dubla, Jan Jasik, Waclaw Sobczak, Karol Czekalski, Waldemar Bialobrzeski and Albert Veissid.

Albert Veissid, one of the young men mentioned in the letter, is alive and now resides in France. Two of the others definitely survived the Holocaust. Karol Czekalski remained in contact with the museum at Auschwitz until the 1960s but has not been heard from since. It is not known whether Czekalski or Wachaw Sobczak – the other survivor – are still alive.

I am all for an identifiable Catholic presence in the public square.

That said, this group is becoming more and more divisive: Catholic Democrats.

Here is their latest defense of Notre Shame, which involves the denigration of Amb. Mary Ann Glendon.

My emphases and comments.

Catholic Democrats Deplores
Ambassador Glendon’s Undiplomatic Withdrawal from Notre Dame Commencement

Decision Not in Step with Majority of Catholics  [This group is more interested in polling data than Catholic teaching.  For them the "majority" gets to decide what is right when it come to Catholic identity.]
Who Support the President’s Social Justice Policies

Boston, MA - Catholic Democrats is expressing its disappointment in the decision by Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon to withdraw her acceptance of the prestigious Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame.  Ambassador Glendon sent a letter to Fr. John Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame, saying that she had reconsidered her acceptance because of the university’s decision to honor the President of the United States. [Hang on.  It wasn’t because ND... NS was going to honor the President of the United States.  It was because NS was going to honor this President, who is without question the most pro-abortion President there has ever been.  The phrase used it an attempt to plant in your mind that Amb. Glendon does not respect the office of the President, probably because he is a Democrat.]

Ambassador Glendon, a professor at Harvard Law School and a listed advisor to the Right wing Catholic League, [Thus trying to damn her by association.  I wonder what other organizations Dr. Whelan belongs to?  Could any of them be an left wing organization?  No… wait!  How about Catholic Democrats?] said that she could not accept the award because she did not want to engage [WOAH! Read the text of Amb Glendon’s letter to Fr. Jenkins.  She did not say she didn’t want to engage about serious topics.  She said that that event wasn’t the right moment, that in a short acceptance speech wasn’t the right way to engage.  This is too serious.  So, effectively, this note from Catholic Democrats twists the facts so as to lie about Amb. Glendon.  They try to make her appear as unwilling to engage in dialogue.  I suspect she would be more than ready and willing to engage in the proper venue.] with the university on the "very serious problems raised by Notre Dame’s decision … to honor a prominent and uncompromising opponent of the Church’s position on issues involving fundamental principles of justice." 

"It is unfortunate that Professor Glendon would repeat the Republican talking points to justify her decision," said Dr. Patrick Whelan, president of Catholic Democrats.  [When you encounter people who argue this way, you must immediately refuse their premise.  They seek to polticize what is really a matter of Catholic faith.  Amb. Glendon did not decline the Laetare medal because of partisan politics.  Were that the case, she wouldn’t have considered taking it in the first place.  What has in the meantime become clear is that Notre Dame has compromised its Catholic identity by choosing to honor a pro-abortion extremist who happens coincidentally to be the President of the United States.  So, what Whelan said is really a misrepresentation of what Glendon wrote.]  "Like many conservative critics, she conveniently sidesteps any acknowledgement of President Obama’s pledge to reduce the number of abortions. [What this conveniently sidesteps is Pres. Obama’s actual record.] Ambassador Glendon’s statement knowingly ignores the President’s leadership in moving the nation past the deep wounds of racial prejudice [Is Whelan now insinuating that Glendon has a racial problem?] and advancing a spectrum of social and economic justice issues at the heart of our faith – including a new focus on strategies to reduce abortion."  [This is the Kmiec Koolaid recipe.  The idea is that these other issues, such as racial equality, "justice", etc., are not just on a par with defense of the unborn, they actually take precedence.]

President Obama is the first president to run for office on a platform that promotes strategies to reduce the number of abortions in our country.  [Huh?  I wonder if that is true.  Wasn’t President Bush pro-life?] Last week, Cardinal Rigali, chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) praised the re-introduction of the "Pregnant Women’s Support Act" saying that it  "offers an authentic common ground, an approach that people can embrace regardless of their position on other issues."  [This is simple misdirection.  So what if Card. Rigali wrote in support of that bill? The bill aims at helping women when they are pregnant.  Help them so they don’t feel so backed into a corner that they choose abortion.  That bill was intorduced by Rep. Davis of Tennessee, not Pres. Obama.  Also, no one has suggested that helping people is not a good strategy in reducing the number of abortions. The fact that Card. Rigali wrote in support of that bill does not therefore mean that President Obama’s record on abortion is acceptable to Catholics.]

Catholic Democrats has launched an online statement of support for the University of Notre Dame and its president, as well as in defense of Catholic education.  The statement has been signed by thousands of Catholics from across the country.  Catholic Democrats believes that the national debate on this controversy epitomizes the divisiveness in our Church and in the public square and is calling on all Catholics to engage in respectful dialogue on all the moral issues of our time.  [I don’t think it is respectful to guide your decisions based on polling rather than by Catholic teaching.  I don’t think it is respectful to accuse people of partisan politics when the issues really concern Catholic  identity.]

"While we are disappointed in Ambassador Glendon’s decision, we know that the majority of Catholics in the United States support the President because they feel he represents Catholic values across the spectrum of moral issues," [Again… they go by numbers rather than by Catholic teaching.  And did I really read that Pres. Obama represents Catholic values?] said Steve Krueger, national director of Catholic Democrats.  "The Catholic Right is caught in a web of the political Right [See how they politicize this?] and is out of step with Church teaching on matters of political culture. [HUH? Has this fellow read what the Church teaches about the sanctity of life?  Abortion is not negotiable.]  Even the Pope has honored political figures who are not in agreement with Church teaching such as President Sarkozy of France.  Their actions and rhetoric are exacting an undisclosed cost on the Church and society that does not serve the best interest of either."  [On the surface, this point seems compelling.  The writer uses it in the strong closing position.  However, the analogy isn’t good enough to support the position that Pres. Obama should therefore be honored at Notre Dame.  The President of France has, ex officio, the right to be a canon of the Lateran, no matter what his stance on abortion may be.  He takes that place as a matter of course.  The Holy Father could, of course, rescind that, but there would be diplomatic repercussions between states: this has been the right for the French head of state since the time of King Henry IV (+1610).  Henry in 1604 gave to the Lateran chapter the ownership of the Benedictine Abbey of Clariac.  The Pope therefore made the French head of state ex officio an honorary canon of the Lateran.  Thus, this "honor" comes automatically.  It does not come after a decision of the Pope or the Lateran chapter.  Though I remember reading that Notre Dame has a standing invitation to Presidents to speak at their commencement, Pres. Obama does not have an ex officio right to do so.  Pres. Obama does not have a right because he is POTUS to be honored with an honorary doctorate.  Notre Dame made a decision to give an honor to Pres. Obama.  Moreover, even though Pres. Sarkozy is known to be pro-abortion, I doubt very much that he would have twice voted in a provincial assembly against a law that would require life-saving measures to be applied to a baby who had survived  attempts to abort it.  There is the issue of Pres. Obama’s extreme position.  There is also the policy of the USCCB for Catholic institutions.   The Sarkozy/Lateran = Obama/Notre Dama parallel only seems to be a parallel.  When you pry it open, it isn’t a good argument.]

From The Black Biretta, the blog of Fr. Trigilio:

 

Tiberius (Gaius Claudius Nero Caesar) on his imperial throne looking at Fr. Z’s scrumptious aviary friends

His Excellency Most Reverend Thomas Tobin, Bishop of Providence, has something to say in the Rhode Island Catholic.

The usual methods of social re-engineering include what I call "creeping incrementalism".  You start slowly, not trying to attain everything you aim for in one fell swoop, but rather strive merely to bump the paradigm a degree or two in the direction you want it to go.  Eventually, what seemed once to be inconceivable comes to be remotely possible, then plausible, then probably a good idea, and then obligatory.

There is an phrase in Latin… in finem citius... things go faster toward the end.

My emphases and comments.
 

WITHOUT A DOUBT
“Rhode Island, Most Catholic State, Welcomes Gay Marriage”

Posted Apr 23, 2009

BY BISHOP THOMAS J. TOBIN

That’s a headline we haven’t seen yet, dear readers, but probably will in the next couple of years. And, make no mistake about it – that’s exactly what the headline will say as the story makes its way around the state and across the nation.

The march toward gay marriage across our nation is relentless, [without doubt] and liberal New England is leading the way. The supporters of gay marriage in Rhode Island are well-organized and well-funded. They’re fiercely determined to impose their politically correct agenda on all the citizens of the state – human history, culture and moral principles not-withstanding. Anyone who opposes them is quickly labeled a bigot.

And what’s the typical response of Catholics in Rhode Island? “As long as it doesn’t affect me, I really don’t care what other people do,” you say. “We shouldn’t judge other people,” you demur. “The Church is losing its influence. I don’t think there’s anything we can do,” you rationalize.  [This is the problem with those who embrace polling data rather than Catholic teaching.]

Well, my friends, gay marriage will affect you and you should be concerned. And there’s a lot we can do. But first, let’s review the principal reasons why we’re opposed to gay marriage.

[1] First is our firm belief – based on the natural law, the Bible and consistent religious tradition – that homosexual activity is unnatural and gravely immoral. It’s offensive to Almighty God. [In CCC 1867 the Church reaffirms that there are sins which "cry to God for vengeance".] It can never be condoned, under any circumstances. Gay marriage, or civil unions, would mean that our state is in the business of ratifying, approving such immoral activity. And as I’ve written previously: “The state shouldn’t be placed in that position, and as a citizen of the state I don’t want that imposed on me and my conscience. Neither should you.”

[2] Second is the fact that gay marriage seeks to radically redefine the most fundamental institution of the human race, the building block of every society and culture. From the beginning, marriage has been defined as the stable union of man and woman, designed by God to continue the human race through the procreation of children. Homosexual relationships are not marriage – never have been, never will be.

Here let me explain the “champagne principle.” Not every wine is champagne. Champagne has certain very specific, universally recognized characteristics. If someone were to take a bottle of Chianti, label and sell it as champagne, they’d be arrested for fraud. In the same way, those who seek to redefine marriage – with its specific characteristics – and to usurp the title “marriage” for their morally bankrupt relationships, are committing an act of fraud. It’s insulting to those who have entered the authentic, sacred and time-honored institution of marriage over the years.  [In Dante’s vision, these sinful acts must be punished also because they tear apart the bonds of society.]

The gay culture continues to seep [incrementally] into our popular culture, cleverly claiming credibility. Did you see that President Obama issued special invitations to gay families to participate in this year’s Easter Egg Hunt at the White House? [?] Just another not-too-subtle attempt to ignore the objective immorality of the situation and present gay couples as normal and happy as every other couple.

The [3] third way in which gay marriage will affect you is its impact on religious freedom, including that of the Catholic Church.

A recent headline in the Washington Post demonstrates the problem: “Faith groups losing gay rights fights.” It goes on to give some examples of how the gay agenda is imposing itself on religious beliefs: a Christian photographer in New Mexico was fined because she refused to photograph a gay couple’s commitment ceremony; Christian doctors in California were obliged to artificially inseminate a lesbian patient; A Christian student group was punished because it denied membership to anyone involved in sex outside of marriage.

We’re familiar with other examples of the gay agenda infringing on religious freedom. In Massachusetts, the Catholic Church was required to place children for adoption with gay couples; and in some countries, clergy preaching the Christian doctrine about homosexual practices have been accused of hate crimes.  [It is today inconceivable that, in the USA, priests and bishops will be hunted down.]

Proponents of gay marriage say that the Church won’t be forced to witness such marriages. Don’t believe it. And other related problems will inevitably arise. Will the Church be required to admit gay couples as sponsors for baptisms; to rent its facilities for gay wedding receptions; to hire employees despite their immoral gay lifestyles; to grant family benefits to gay couples? For simply maintaining its teachings in these and many other possible scenarios, the Church will be accused of bigotry and unlawful discrimination. The threat to our religious freedom is real, and imminent.

The fact that Rhode Island has successfully avoided the gay marriage phenomenon is a credit to our Governor, the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate. They – along with a number of other legislative leaders – have been consistent and courageous in deflecting the onslaught of gay activists and in upholding the traditional definition of marriage. We hope and pray they’ll continue to do so.

“The Church is losing its influence,” you say, “and there’s nothing we can do.” “Bull feathers,” I reply. I don’t know if we have 600,000 Catholics in the state or 500,000 or 400,000. But if even ten percent of our Catholic population got actively involved in this issue – even five percent – we could have an enormous impact and help Rhode Island maintain its moral sanity.

Lots of things you can do about this issue. First, you can be aware of the legislation as it’s introduced in the General Assembly. You can contact your state senator and representative and insist that they oppose gay marriage and defend marriage and family values. You can exert your influence with letters to the editor and calls to talk shows. [They will try to lock down the tools of social communications.  Use them well now.] You can join and support organizations like NOM-RI that’s leading the charge on this issue. And you can pray fervently that God will help us in this critical struggle on behalf of morality and common sense.  [Prayer, with fasting and almsgiving.]

The Church teaches us that it’s the responsibility of the laity to get involved in public life, to transform the secular order into the Kingdom of God. Therefore, if someday a headline reads, “Rhode Island, Most Catholic State, Welcomes Gay Marriage,” people across the nation will ask, “How did that happen?” And it’ll be our fault, fellow Catholics – not necessarily because we approved of gay marriage – but simply because our abysmal apathy allowed it to happen.

God Bless this bishop.  Please stop and say a prayer to St. Michael the Archangel to defend him in the trial he will be subjected to because he published this.

Furthermore, once the stage of "same sex marriage" is passed, there is no reason no to approve your marriage with your dog or legalize child abuse.

From CNN.

Priest forgives suspect in confessional stabbing

By Rich Phillips
CNN Senior Producer

VERO BEACH, Florida (CNN)—The Rev. Michael Massaro says he has a few aches and pains, but a good night’s sleep has done him some good as he recovers from being attacked Saturday with a knife in a confessional at his church.

 It was one of the most harrowing weekends in the 28 years he’s been a Roman Catholic priest, Massaro said. But it won’t stop him from hearing confessions.

"We’re at the mercy of the people we serve," Massaro told CNN. "We can’t live in fear. God has asked us to live in trust. If it’s going to happen again, it’s going to happen again, but that’s not going to prevent me from doing God’s work."

Massaro had just finished hearing confessions in his Florida church when he was stabbed twice in the back by a woman who later told police Massaro is the Antichrist.

Read the rest.

From a reader:

Mass at the Little Sisters of the Poor, Newcastle
Tonight there will be a Missa Cantata in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite at the chapel of the Little Sisters of the Poor, Westmorland Road, Newcastle at 7pm. This is in response to a request from a group of residents in the home. It has taken two and a half years of negotiation to bring this about so we hope all goes well. Thanks to David O`Neill for working to bring this about

Two years….

Why should it have to be so hard.

Oh well.

Brick by brick, folks!

UPDATE:

A biretta tip  o{]:¬)   to Forrest Murmurs

Many people are e-mailing me about Bishop Finn’s keynote address at the Second Annual Gospel of Life Convention.

Yes, folks.  I know.  I wrote about this over a week ago here: Bp. Finn: “We are at war”

From CNA:

Pro-lifers assaulted while collecting signatures against abortion

Madrid, Spain, Apr 28, 2009 / 03:24 pm (CNA).- On Saturday, April 25, three volunteers of the Right to Life organization and a Chilean in the town of El Ferrol were victims a brutal assault by a group of seven young people who attacked them as they were collecting signatures against the law on abortion sponsored by the Socialist government.

Gador Joya, the organization’s spokeswoman, is demanding the attack be condemned by federal officials in the province of Galicia and that they bring the assailants to justice.

“Once again we see the lack of arguments of those who defend the most radical positions: intolerance and violence have no place in a state based on the rule of law,” she said.
 
“Unfortunately, these acts have taken place after the Minister of Equality herself (Bibiana Aido) expressed scorn for those of us who civilly express our rejection of their legal reform of abortion and who have been labeled ‘fundamentalists.’”  [Remember… she is a Spaniard not a Napolitana.] This poor example by Aido, said Joya, “speaks very little of the prudence that every leader ought to have, especially in order to discourage violence by the most extreme groups, such as that which we suffered today in El Ferrol.”
 
The president of the watchdog website HazteOir.org, Ignacio Arsuaga, expressed solidarity with the pro-life activists and said, “No matter how much they threaten us, hit us or insult us, they will not stop us.  Acts like these only reaffirm our convictions, which we defend with absolute civility and in accord with our right to freedom of expression, in response to those who make violence their only argument.”
 
Jaime Dias, one of the victims of the assault, said from the hospital where he is recovering that he was not disheartened by the incident. “I am fine, I did my duty by following what my conscience told me,” he said.  “Whenever they let me know, I will go back on the streets to collect signatures. Nobody is going to silence me with violence,” he said.

From a reader about the Vidi Aquam and Asperges… not to be confused with the wonderful vegetable:

At nearly every single High Mass I have attended, whether FSSP, ICR or SSPX, including most diocesan TLMs, the High Mass is preceded with the Asperges or Vidi Aquam.

However, I have noticed some parishes do not use either the Asperges or Vidi Aquam ever even though they always offer High Mass?

Is there a good reason for depriving the laity of this sacramental?

What is the proper protocol?

First, I am a little puzzled at the spin put on this question. You frame it in terms of finding a justification for "depriving" people of a sacramental.  I am all for sacramentals, but let’s be a little less aggressive.

You simply ask the priest why he didn’t do it.  I can imagine a few reasons.  For example…

The priest is still new at this old stuff and doesn’t know what to do.

The choir is still learning and doesn’t know the chant.

There is a Mass immediately after this one and it can’t go too long.

Remember that the Asperges and Vidi aquam are not part of the Mass.  This is why the priest doesn’t wear Mass vestments.  He usually wears a cope if there is one.  The ministers don’t wear their maniples, etc. 

Customarily this rite was done before the principle Mass in a place.  The rite is an option, and wasn’t nornally done before Low Masses…. except for a time in England, I think, where it was mandatory at Masses.  It probably grew out of cathedral Masses and churches with chapters where there were clergy in choro.  Something similar is done in the monastic office, at compline, I believe.

I think the Asperges and Vidi aquam are very good to do, and a priest does well to explain the significance so that people can better understand how valuable sacramentals are.  Still, if it is an option it can be left out without people snarling at the priest and asking for good reasons or justifications.

I can hear some of you now… after I post questions about liturgy or my pondered insights…

"But Father! But Father!", you say in frustration.  "Who cares about the liturgy!  What’s up at the feeder?"

What is up at the feeder, you ask?

I shot a few birds today.

Purple Finch is having some lunch.  Actually, he looks like pinicola enucleator, no?



The intrepid Chickadee is snacking at another feeder.



They grab a seed and then fly to a convenient perch where they pry the seed open.





Busted… oh well…



There is a new comer!

Not sure who this is.  UPDATE: A commenter says this is White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis!







But we know who he is!



This Chickadee has struck gold.



A Robin is having a bath in the Sabine Stream, just down from way from the Fons Bandusiae.  They bathe often and needs lots of fresh water.



I would like to get a webcam on the hummingbird feeder which I must set up.  Also, I need to get a feeder with a broader base that birds such as Cardinals like.

From a priest reader:

I have been working towards implementing some liturgical changes here, to include ad orientem since my sanctuary allows for adjusting the altar’s location to accommodate it.  What I am looking for is some rubrical aid.  At what points does the priest turn towards the congregation?  I have tried googling for that but have not found anything useful. 

Also, I would like to do some sound catechesis with the parish prior to starting and wonder if you have any suggestions for good resources for that. 

As a bit of background – I went through seminary at and was ordained in ’89.  As you can probably imagine, ad orientem and Extraordinary Form were never brought into the training program.

Yes, I can imagine that.

First, you can check the rubrics in the 2002 Missale Romanum. Also, compare them with TLM.

That said, at the altar the priest would turn as indicated when he addresses the congregation.  For example, he would turn to receive the gifts brought to the altar.  He would turn to say the Orate Fratres.  He would turn for the Ecce Agnus Dei and for the final blessing and dismissal.  You don’t kiss the altar when turning, as you would in the TLM.

To get up to speed on catechesis you might start by listening to some PODCAzTs (esp. #37, #43, #48, I made about the altar and ad orientem worship. 

Every priest needs to have these three resources.  If you don’t have these books, buy them now with these links:

Klaus Gamber’s The Reform of the Roman Liturgy.

Michael Lang’s Turning Towards the Lord.

Joseph Ratzinger The Spirit of the Liturgy. 

Apparently Card. Cañizares, Prefect of the CDW, has been hospitalized with thrombophlebitis.  Given that he is in hospitalized in Rome, would you stop now, and in your charity, say a prayer for his swift and complete recovery?