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“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
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I'm taking Mass intentions right now. Also, I regularly say Mass for my regular benefactors and special Roman Sojourn Donors. HERE for the form I use.YOUR RECENT COMMENTS
ThePapalCount on Relief. Pope Leo XIV addressed the clergy of Rome… cordially.: “What a radically fresh approach from Pope Leo. The late pope too often spoke words of criticism and cynicism. And…”
PostCatholic on VIDEO – Unboxing the newly reprinted Pre-55 Missal from the Benedictines of Norcia: “Certainly a beautiful book. I am unclear on something. I thought the Missal of 1963 is the version of the…”
PostCatholic on Relief. Pope Leo XIV addressed the clergy of Rome… cordially.: “I wonder if he’ll reinstate the possibility of monsignor-hood.”
srose on Pentecost Thursday: No Joy in Mudville for Dustman.: “Good post! I got past the vampires, no problem. Now I gotta dodge the Molotov cocktails…”
Geoffrey on ASK FATHER: Communion services simply because the priest is away?: “This is actually quite common, depending on where you live. Before the pandemic, my former parish had daily Masses at…”
TheBackPew on ASK FATHER: Communion services simply because the priest is away?: “Ave Maria’s comment gets to the heart of it. “Got what I came for.” In the frontier days, Catholics went…”
amenamen on Pentecost Thursday: No Joy in Mudville for Dustman.: “Mister Miagi and Daniel-san kept Reseda, California, free from the baneful influences of the bad boys of Cobra Kai. Although…”
Fr. John Zuhlsdorf on Pentecost Thursday: No Joy in Mudville for Dustman.: “GHP: Just below the combox I have a link for a cite that gives the code for special characters. I’ve…”
Ave Maria on ASK FATHER: Communion services simply because the priest is away?: “We sometimes have communion services when all the priests are called away for the twice yearly meeting with the bishop.…”
GHP on Pentecost Thursday: No Joy in Mudville for Dustman.: “Diacritics do not post and are replaced by ? — kokury? = Kokuryuu — Ky?kai = Kyoukai Sorry ’bout that,…”
GHP on Pentecost Thursday: No Joy in Mudville for Dustman.: “会 Kai, in Japanese, means (1) meeting; assembly; party; gathering; conference; athletic meet; (n,n-suf) (2) society; association; club. E.g., コブラ会…”
Imrahil on ACTION ITEM! Pentecost Novena Prayers for Traditional Latin Mass: “Oh, yes, I was in too. Dear Professor Cover, to the seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost, obviously.”
RosaryRose on ASK FATHER: Communion services simply because the priest is away?: “For 6 months now, my Sunday diet has been strictly the TLM. (As opposed to the occasional TLM prior to…”
Servant on Pentecost Thursday: No Joy in Mudville for Dustman.: “Cobra Kai, Father. I hear there is a new Karate Kid coming out with Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan. It…”
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- The most evident mark of God’s anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clerics who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds.
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“Until the Lord be pleased to settle, through the instrumentality of the princes of the Church and the lawful ministers of His justice, the trouble aroused by the pride of a few and the ignorance of some others, let us with the help of God endeavor with calm and humble patience to render love for hatred, to avoid disputes with the silly, to keep to the truth and not fight with the weapons of falsehood, and to beg of God at all times that in all our thoughts and desires, in all our words and actions, He may hold the first place who calls Himself the origin of all things.”
- Prosper of Aquitaine (+c.455), De gratia Dei et libero arbitrio contra Collatorem 22.61
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frz AT wdtprs DOT comAs for Latin…
"But if, in any layman who is indeed imbued with literature, ignorance of the Latin language, which we can truly call the 'catholic' language, indicates a certain sluggishness in his love toward the Church, how much more fitting it is that each and every cleric should be adequately practiced and skilled in that language!" - Pius XI
"Let us realize that this remark of Cicero (Brutus 37, 140) can be in a certain way referred to [young lay people]: 'It is not so much a matter of distinction to know Latin as it is disgraceful not to know it.'" - St. John Paul II
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Recent Posts
- OLDIE PODCAzT 59: St Leo the Great on Pentecost fasting; Benedict XVI’s Pentecost sermon
- Relief. Pope Leo XIV addressed the clergy of Rome… cordially.
- Pentecost Thursday: No Joy in Mudville for Dustman.
- ASK FATHER: Communion services simply because the priest is away?
- Pentecost Wednesday: Peter’s shadow
- OLDIE PODCAzT 58: Ember Days; Chrysostom on St. Matthias; Prayer to the Holy Spirit
- 7 July: CATHOLIC Mass at Canterbury Cathedral for the Feast of the Translation of the Relics of St. Thomas Beckett –
- VIDEO – Unboxing the newly reprinted Pre-55 Missal from the Benedictines of Norcia
- OLDIE PODCAzT 57: John Paul II on the unforgivable sin; Our Lady of Fatima and the vision of Hell
- Daily Rome Shot 1372 – Confirmation
- WDTPRS – Pentecost Monday: Feast of the Lacrimation of Paul VI.
- OLDIE PODCAzT 56: Octaves – Fr. Z rants & Augustine on Pentecost
- News of the Church 14 – 8 June 2025
- Daily Rome Shot 1372 – Happy Pentecost!
- Your Sunday Sermon Notes: Pentecost Sunday 2025
- WDTPRS – Pentecost Sunday: Holy Church’s fabric, the warp and the weft
- OLDIE PODCAzT 87: Veni Sancte Spiritus – The Pentecost Sequence dissected
- “Under the command of General Eisenhower…”
- Daily Rome Shot 1371
- Daily Rome Shot 1370 – A plea from a traditional group
- “a cringeworthy romp in the very worst that the 70’s and 80’s could offer”
- Si vis pacem, para bellum – If you want peace, prepare war! Hackers, scams and YOU. Some discussion.
- “Other restrictions may apply.”
- Wherein Fr. Z recommends a couple of YouTube videos
- Daily Rome Shot 1369
- Daily Rome Shot 1368
- Daily Rome Shot 1367
- News of the Church 13 – 2 June 2025
- Daily Rome Shot 1366
- Pope Leo XIV: “marriage is not an ideal but the measure of true love between a man and a woman”
Let us pray…
Grant unto thy Church, we beseech Thee, O merciful God, that She, being gathered together by the Holy Ghost, may be in no wise troubled by attack from her foes. O God, who by sin art offended and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy people making supplication unto Thee,and turn away the scourges of Thine anger which we deserve for our sins. Almighty and Everlasting God, in whose Hand are the power and the government of every realm: look down upon and help the Christian people that the heathen nations who trust in the fierceness of their own might may be crushed by the power of thine Arm. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
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Alas, the sad truth is that in our culture the only real sin is to experience guilt, which shall be eliminated by therapy, not absolution in the sacrament of penance. So many sections of the church have capitulated to this as they do not wish to be countercultural and a sign of contradtiction, that is hated and despised by the world.
Father Z,
I believe there are a number of reasons why people have abandoned the sacrament of Reconciliation, as many of the posters on the original post noted.
A major reason seems to be lack of emphasis by our pastors. I cannot recall ever hearing a homily on why we need to go to Confession, or the benefits of it. In my experience, it is usually relegated to a 30-minute time slot on Saturdays, or “By appointment.” It’s hard enough to work up the courage to enter into the confessional in the first place, but to have to call the parish and explain to the secretary that you need an appointment with a priest to confess your sins is asking a little too much for most people. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but there should be more public opportunities for the sacrament.
Catechesis is clearly an issue, and I agree with Mr Wells on the availability of confession issue. Many people also avoid going to a priest they see regularly.
But the biggest problem in my view is that most people who have tried to go to confession in the last few decades have almost invariably had a bad experience of it.
Personally, I not infrequently find myself leaving the confessional wondering if I actually received the sacrament at all (being told to say the act of contrition as my penace rather than in the confessional, wondering whether there was anything that could reasonably be construed as a penance at all, the absolution formula didn’t sound quite right, etc).
The advice given is not infrequently directly at odds with Church law and tradition.
And super-light penances reinforce the idea that sin is not a serious matter (the worst story I heard was of someone who as an adult tearfully made their first confession, and received one Hail Mary as the penance).
When I try and persuade lapsed catholics to return, they invariably have horror stories to tell of why they left (not being believed, being grilled unmercifully, etc). They are also often scandalised by public and apparently unrepentent sinners receiving the eucharist – a case if they can, I can.
So if we are truly concerned about the sacrament (and I agree we should be), what is needed is:
(1) A serious program to ensure priests hearing confessions treat it seriously. Those who abuse the sacrament in varius ways should have their faculties removed.
(2) Serious, regular catechesis on the subject from the pulpit in all parishes.
(3) Publication of set times for confession in each town or area, with a reasonable length of time provided, and where possible, a good spread of days and times. We need holy priests who are prepared to sit in the confessional even if nobody comes.
(4) Restoration of public penance for some serious sins (politicians who vote for abortion or stem-cell research springs to mind!).
(5) A lot of prayer for the above!
Alas, too, it would seem that the demise of a clear understanding of the real purpose for, and great respect of, the sacrament can be blamed pretty much on the multitude of poorly-formed (or liberally-inculcated) lay sacramental “prep” instructors one finds in the Amchurch today.
There’s plenty of focus on the importance of full participation in the Eucharistic liturgy. Success in that regard is measured by how many people queue up to receive, regardless of their proper disposition to do so; and measured even moreso by the number of EMHC’s “needed” to minister the “cup.”
It’s kind of like watching an old fakir feed a snake its own tail. I suppose for them (the newchurch types) the need for real sacramental reconciliation will disappear with a pop.
The cartoon itself, I think, came from a Slate article about so-called “carbon offsets,” which allow individuals and companies to purchase credits that allow them to engage in work resulting in pollution. The cartoon references the old misunderstanding about indulgences, and how one would supposedly buy them as a permission to go on sinning (notice the money exchanging hands here).