Monthly Archives: October 2006

Today was busy day full of getting things out of storage, and getting my electronic "nimbus" (as a priest friend calls it) set up again. I had lunch with two great priests who are USN chaplains (for me: buccatini dell’amatriciana … Read More →

EXCERPT:
I want to bring back to the fore what I wrote of the word frequentatio some weeks ago. Frequentatio is also a technical term in rhetoric: it is “a condensed recapitulation of the arguments already stated separately, a recapitulation, summing up.” Our reception of Holy Communion in the context of Mass is really the fullness of what the Church calls “full, conscious and active participation” in the sacred liturgy (which is the “source and summit”). Holy Communion is the ultimate frequentatio for the Eucharist “having in itself all delight”, as we pray during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Furthermore, the celebration of Holy Mass is the source and summit of our Christian lives. Thus, is not the moment of Holy Communion being described in this prayer not a summation of the whole of the Christian’s identity and life? Each and every consecrated Host is the Eternal Word made flesh, who dwelt among us so as to save us from our sins and reveal us more fully to ourselves (cf. Gaudium et spes 22). Of all the sacraments Christ gave us, this Most Blessed Sacrament is the only one which actually is what it signifies:

Christ truly present. Christ, who is the Word spoken from eternity by the Father, is the frequentatio, the perfect “summing up”, who at the end will take all things to Himself and submit them to the Father so that God might be all in all (1 Cor 15:28). Christ is our frequentatio. Read More →

Off I go. I will soon be high above the earth, rocketing toward the City and away from the Sabine Farm. Read More →

Mr. John L. Allen, the ubiquitous former Rome correspondent for the still left-leaning National Catholic Reporter, pass along a brief interview with H.E. William Skylstad, Pres. of the USCCB. Mr. Allen ask H.E. about a potential "freeing up" of the … Read More →

Since I am on the cusp of leaving the bucolic delights of the Sabine Farm for the activity and rapid pace of the City, this morning I remembered I needed to get an absentee ballot for the upcoming election.  I … Read More →

In another entry concerning a nightmare scenario, blog participant Michael posted an interesting piece of information from the Pont. Comm. "Ecclesia Dei" which, frankly, I had forgotten all about. A question was raised about who might subsititute for a subdeacon … Read More →

Most of you have heard the news that the in/famous Fr. Reginald Foster will not be allowed to teach his Latin "Experiences" at the Gregorian University.  Various reasons are being offered about this.  I have known Fr. Foster since the … Read More →

The wonderful blog Rorate Caeli has informed us about an article in the French daily Le Figaro about the possibility that Pope Benedict could lift the excommunication incurred by the bishops of the SSPX. Rorate gives a translation of part … Read More →

What Does the Prayer Really Say? 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2003 With baseball coming to its annual apex (“the extreme end of a thing, the point, summit, top”), a friend recently asked the … Read More →

EXCERPT:
Today’s prayer recognizes our deep and unavoidable obligation before God, our sacred duty. As His people we are capable of receiving a share of God’s transforming glory. Remember that transeo can mean also “be changed into something”. The word devotio invokes an entire world view. The virtue of devotio leads us always to say, with the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30 RSV). Our lives must be evaluated in light of our obligations under God’s plan and providence. Our prayer, then, firmly expresses the nature of the relationship we have with God. We are not equals. We rely on him totally and every good thing we have comes to us from on high. If we faithfully fulfill our God-given duty, He will share with us His own transforming glory for eternity. Read More →

Another kind reader of this blog has used the Donation button to send a contribution to help me maintain this site and the ASK FATHER Question Box.  Thanks! I would ask also your prayers for Fr. Auman, who for years … Read More →

Imagine how complicated issuing a Motu Proprio expanding use of the "Tridentine" Mass must be?  There are many "logistical" issues to work through, canon law to harmonize, rubrics to consider, internal discipline of the Church to maintain.  The celebration of … Read More →

The press and pundits have been putting forward reasons why Pope Benedict might issue a new document to expand the use of the so-called "Tridentine" Mass. Since I lately was honored with the title "Vatican wonk" by a friend from … Read More →

In a comment on one of the various entries about a possible “Tridentine” Liberation Day (TLD) frequent reader “Jon” wrote (in case you missed it): Read More →

Here is a moment both dismaying and amusing in a piece by the excellent CNS Rome correpondent John Thavis. As you know, the bishops of Canada have been completing their ad limina visits. The bishops of Western Canada were just … Read More →