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About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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27 Comments

  1. Rose in NE says:

    My son, an organ student at our Cathedral, received the opportunity to turn pages for an outstanding visiting organist last night. The program included music by Buxtehude, Franck and the Deuxieme Symphonie, Opus 20 by Louis Vierne. It was great for my son to be able to be up close to watch this organist in action, both at the concert and in practice. Very inspiring!

  2. wanda says:

    Coming to you live from snow central..MD, near Baltimore. Looking out on what is to be a record-breaking snow fall..30″ & still snowing. Oh, it is beautiful..and oh, how quiet it is!
    Nothing moving anywhere, no cars for sure. The only thing moving are a few intrepid birds trying to grab up what they can find at the feeder.

    But, all is well, haven’t had any power outages and we had plenty of notice to prepare. It brings to mind who truly is in control.

  3. cumecclesia says:

    I am twenty-one years old and finishing my last semester of undergraduate study in college. Throughout this semester I am in the process of applying to the Seminary.

    After discovering Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite earlier this year while spending a semester studying abroad in Rome, I have spent some months studying how to serve the Traditional Mass. I am delighted to report that just this week, I served my very first Low Mass and on Sundays I will begin to serve at a local parish’s Missa Cantata. I discovered this traditional parish through the “Brick by Brick” segment of this blog. Thank you Fr.Z!

    Please pray for me that if God wills it, I may be a good and holy priest for the Church and that I may continue to grow in knowledge of the Traditional Mass–so one day, God willing, I will be able to celebrate it as a priest.

  4. irishgirl says:

    This month it has been four years since I had my cancer surgery-and as far as I know, I am free of any traces of it! Deo Gratias!

    cumecclesia-I was very happy to read of your experiences with the EF! I pray that you will become a good and holy priest! DOUBLE Deo Gratias!

  5. wanda says:

    cumecclesia, I will add you to my daily prayers in this the year for Priests. I always include those who are discerning the call to the Priesthood. May God bless you. It does our hearts good to hear such beautiful news.

  6. Hey, Wanda, we’re here to the south in Arlington, Virginia. It’s about 18 inches at National Airport. I’ve got a few pictures here. They’re expecting 4 to 6 inches before day’s end. My good news? The power’s still on, and I have a gas (not electric) stove.

  7. virmagnussum says:

    Many good things are happening in Seattle Washington.

    At a dominican parish in Seattle Washington, Blessed Sacrament, the chant propers are beginning to be sung on a regular basis. In addition, the text and translation for the propers is soon to be printed and inserted in each of the pews. Previously, the chants had not been done at all. Now, they are sung regularly by a very decent men’s schola. The most difficult in building this schola is finding parishoners with the necessary level of musicianship to match pitch and stay rhythmically together. The inspiring part is that the community values giving God our best.

    What is even more encouraging is the number of young adults who are passionate about good liturgy and good worship. Several of the members there have been to great churches like St. Agnes and St. John Cantius and while they realize that the church of Blessed Sacrament has a long way to go before it resembles some of these liturgies, there are changes little by little that make worship richer and more God focused.

    In addition, the branch of the North American Martyrs who specialize in doing the TLM, are actively considering purchasing their own church in Seattle! The search is being sponsored by the archdiocese of Seattle, quite a change from years past! One of the churches they are considering has a beautiful organ, great stained glass and a lovely acoustic!

  8. Maltese says:

    Yes! There is a solemn Latin Mass tonight in Portland Oregon!

    http://www.cantoresinecclesia.org/

    Btw: listen to their Kyrie to get a sense how accomplished they are (they also sing in Rome):

    http://www.cantoresinecclesia.org/pages/main_pages/listen.html

  9. lucy says:

    My daughter will be confirmed at an earlier age than our bishop normally allows on Valentine’s Day. Thanks be to God !!

  10. Mike says:

    Walked to Mass this morning–a little under a mile–in the MD/DC/VA blizzard. First, no lights on the Church, but door open. Saw two of our priests who were milling about, unsure whether to offer Mass. But then they saw me, and so we had Mass, with one other guy showing up. Wonderful.

    Well worth the effort, of course. Peaceful walk home, even with the cold wind at my neck.

  11. MAJ Tony says:

    Since it got pushed to page 2 before most probably saw it, I’m reposting what I put on the 2 Feb “Good News” thread last night.

    My cousin, Fr. Paul Nord, OSB of the Archabbey of St. Meinrad (St. Meinrad, IN, about 60 miles west of Louisville, KY) just celebrated the Holy Mass at the tomb of our Lord in Jerusalem. Monday, he is to celebrate Mass at the other main altar at the site of our Lord’s crucifixion. On Tuesday, he leaves Jerusalem and Hebrew U for Rome and continued studies at Pont. Biblical Institute. Prayers appreciated.

  12. benyanke says:

    Well, I’ve had a good day today.

    Start it out by serving morning mass with Ad-orientem, chant, then adoration, confession, morning prayer and benediction.

    Then, straight to a Pro Life Rally to make sure a certain hospital/clinic system doesn’t start 2nd trimester abortions. It was basicly a little march for life. We even called in Chris Slattery from NY. But I can’t really call a 2,000 person rally a small one.

  13. dcs says:

    The good news is that I finally got my car dug out! I did not realize, when my wife and I invested in a minivan, that it would take longer to dig out than our old Corolla.

  14. Nan says:

    My usual pilgrimage to the local shrine yesterday and another planned for tomorrow.

  15. Jack Hughes says:

    I’m going to Fatima in April

  16. Mike: Well, then…a Mass celebrated NOT on a Sunday in a blizzard…great news!Saints be praised! You probably have a gazillion years of indulgences for that :<)…said with great affection for your love for the Holy Mass and our Holy Mother Church’s great indulgence! Blessings to ya’!

  17. Only a couple of years ago, the little chant schola I belong to was a pariah. Then, our foundress’s parish gave us space to rehearse once a week. Now they have asked us to do Mass for Ash Wednesday and the early Mass for Easter Sunday.

  18. Supertradmom says:

    After many tests, no more cancer in areas suspected. Hooray! However, one big test to go…prayers still needed.

  19. Nora says:

    Our Catholic Gift Fair has raised over a $1000 dollars for our parish school this week, with the biggest day likely to be tomorrow. A parishioner is an importer/wholesaler and he lets us have the run of the warehouse for the sale each year during Catholic Schools week. This year he extended it to all on-line orders and we haven’t even begun to tally those. The school is new, so it still has a debt; the economy is bad, so times are tight. The profit from the sale is a bright spot for us.

  20. Henry Belton says:

    priest at close to home parish told me he is seriously considering my request to have latin mass. please keep him in your prayers.

  21. tygirwulf says:

    I helped out at the food pantry in my small town for the first time this morning, and we were able to give food to 184 people, Deo gratias!

    This is of a different nature than the other good news, but I had a most excellent date Wednesday evening with a fine Catholic gentleman. I have never had any date, let alone a first date, go so well. I hesitate even to ask, but If I could have your prayers for this budding relationship, I would appreciate it!

  22. Maltese says:

    Partially erase my coment, supra. I went to said “Solemn Latin Mass,” and found it it to be a a super-sized Bugnini happy-meal (ie a Novus Ordo Latin Mass.) Choir was gorgeous, priest sang perfect and accomplished Latin. But the substance, the Sacrifice, was absent. See, the Sacrifice is what the mass is all about–or was, until a possible Mason by the name of Bugnini, on the orders of Paul VI (who was probably unwitting,) took it upon himself, with the help of Protestants, to transform the mass; to denude it of the Sacrificial aspect, and make it into a communal-meal in the Jewish sense (which in those days, post holocaust, it is not hard to see why they felt compelled to honor the Jews, but in doing so they sought to change an agee old Catholic concept: the Sacrifice of the Mass.)

    You can take the makings of a happy meal and make it the best you can–you find the best flour in the world to make the bread with, the best ground-meat to make the hamburger, the best potatoes and olive oil wherewith to make the fries, but in the end, you will still have a happy meal. Similarly, the Bugnini mass can never be made into the perfected (over the cenuries) Eternal Sacrifice no matter how you dress it.

    Still I admire the souls who put on the mass tonight for their tenacity in the face of insurmountable odds: they have been putting this mass on since the 80’s: so, kuddos to them!

  23. Henry Edwards says:

    Maltese: Any statement that a valid Mass of the Roman rite, even if not “gorgeous”, is just a “communal meal” and not a Holy Sacrifice, is sacrilege. Whether made by a foolish traditionalist or a wacky liberal.

    My opinion of Bugnini is probably no higher than yours, but any reference to a beautiful Mass celebrated reverently by an ordained Roman Catholic priest as just a “happy meal” sounds to me like …. well, heresy. (Is there some other word that applies more precisely?) Of course, you didn’t actually say this. Good for you!

  24. smallone says:

    @Henry Edwards: ditto. And what about Rule 2c?

    Back to the topic…I know this sounds horrible, but my good news is: we had an OF mass with no music today, presumably due to the heavy snow in our area and the driving difficulties it created. There are talented musicians at our parish but 95 percent of what they do is by the (OCP) book. The absence of that genre of music creates a much more reverent atmosphere.

  25. bookworm says:

    I made a difficult but good confession yesterday after two weeks of hem-hawing around about it. I decided to follow the “rules” Father Z posted about being brief and to the point, and not mentioning anyone else’s sins but my own, and it did help.

    I also asked the priest about the possibility of making an appointment for a general confession at a later time and he said sure, just call the parish office and he’d be glad to schedule it. I would like to thank the posters who brought that subject up; I think it will help clear up some matters that might be too complicated to explain in 5 minutes on Saturday afternoon with a dozen people waiting in line behind me.

  26. Maltese says:

    Henry Edwards: “Any statement that a valid Mass of the Roman rite, even if not “gorgeous”, is just a “communal meal” and not a Holy Sacrifice, is sacrilege.” Very true: my point was that the Sacrificial aspect is diminished in favor of the communal (even a die-in-the-wool traditionalist believes there is some communal aspect to Holy Mass.) But I do believe the average church-goer fails to see the Unbloody Sacrifice in the Novus Order, and thus you have an almost total disbelief in the True Presence…

  27. ladykathryn says:

    On February 14th, our middle daughter will become a postulate at the Carmelite monastery of Our Mother of Mercy and St. Joseph in South Dakota.

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