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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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- 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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Venerator Sti Lot on ROME 22/06 – Day 23: Resistance is futile: “With apologies for the badly proofread cutting and pasting above, I was struck by today’s collect: “Protector in te sperantium,…”
Not on ROME 22/06 – Day 24: “talkin’ ’bout my g-g-generation”: “As much as we have enjoyed your Italian adventure, Looking forward to your return.”
poohbear on ROME 22/06 – Day 24: “talkin’ ’bout my g-g-generation”: “Fishwrap calling out others for “unholy” alliances? Can they say “pot/kettle”? sigh”
The Vicar on ROME 22/06 – Day 24: “talkin’ ’bout my g-g-generation”: “The origin for “My Generation” was Pete Townshend’s annoyance that the Queen Mother had his car towed from a neighborhood…”
Grant M on ROME 22/06 – Day 24: “talkin’ ’bout my g-g-generation”: “Ten years ago, those opposed to Obama’s policies were clearly racist. By the same token, those opposed to the court’s…”
Patrick-K on ROME 22/06 – Day 24: “talkin’ ’bout my g-g-generation”: ““Why do you think that I think that it’s weird?” The glass coffin (there’s probably a word for that) looks…”
Kathleen10 on ROME 22/06 – Day 24: “talkin’ ’bout my g-g-generation”: “Is the image weird because it is a tangle of legs? I can’t really make out what is in the…”
Dustin F, OCDS on It’s as if the stars aligned on 24 June: “The bulk of those justices who signed on to the opinion are Catholic. I think they knew exactly what they…”
Nighthawk on It’s as if the stars aligned on 24 June: “In reply to Chrisc, the Texas AG actually made yesterday a (quasi-)holiday in his offices by sending his various employees…”
Grant M on It’s as if the stars aligned on 24 June: “Amazing isn’t it? The meeting of the Sacred Heart and of the Baptist on one day reminds us of the…”
Fr. Kelly on ASK FATHER: Does the humeral veil contradict in the use of Eucharistic ministers?: “Perhaps the questioner has in mind the use of the humeral veil by the subdeacon in the Solemn Mass? The…”
redneckpride4ever on ROME 22/06 – Day 24: “talkin’ ’bout my g-g-generation”: “First of all, the culture wars were initiated by the left. When Obama was elected, these moral narcissists were convinced…”
Venerator Sti Lot on ROME 22/06 – Day 23: Resistance is futile: “So far I’m not having much luck finding out more about the monuments beyond their being of Angelo Altieri and…”
Anita Moore, O.P.(lay) on ROME 22/06 – Day 24: “talkin’ ’bout my g-g-generation”: “Question about refurbishing a chalice (or any other vessel for the Eucharist). Since laymen are not supposed to touch the…”
Lurker 59 on ROME 22/06 – Day 24: “talkin’ ’bout my g-g-generation”: “Going through the statements put out by one’s local diocese is a fantastic means to discern the level of hard…”
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Don’t rely on popes, bishops and priests.
“He [Satan] will set up a counter-Church which will be the ape of the Church because, he the devil, is the ape of God. It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the anti-Christ that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ. In desperate need for God, whom he nevertheless refuses to adore, modern man in his loneliness and frustration will hunger more and more for membership in a community that will give him enlargement of purpose, but at the cost of losing himself in some vague collectivity.”
“Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops.”- Fulton Sheen
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- “The modern habit of doing ceremonial things unceremoniously is no proof of humility; rather it proves the offender's inability to forget himself in the rite, and his readiness to spoil for every one else the proper pleasure of ritual.”
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As 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
- Your Sunday Sermon Notes: 5th Sunday after Easter (6th Sunday of, N.O.)
- ROME 22/06 – Day 24: “talkin’ ’bout my g-g-generation”
- It’s as if the stars aligned on 24 June
- ROME 22/06 – Day 23: Resistance is futile
- On this Feast of the Sacred Heart, when SCOTUS overturned Roe, remember that “Abortion Pill” use will be pushed hard by the Left, and that there is a SAFE REVERSAL after the first pill. @HeartbeatIntl
- US SUPREME COURT issued Opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson – ROE and CASEY OVERTURNED
- “Perdonamose!” St. John’s Birthday Feast and Midsummer Snails
- ASK FATHER: Pork butt for the Sacred Heart
- What do we do when we synodize?
- ASK FATHER: Does the humeral veil contradict in the use of Eucharistic ministers?
- ROME 22/06 – Day 22: “Even in another church St. Rita is sad… about… you know.”
- Vatican Synod’s (“walking together”) on spirituality of synodality (“walking togetherality”) is coming: The merciful heart loves… demons.
- ASK FATHER: What if 100 priests wanted to leave a diocese because of the bishop?
- LOOK! UP IN THE SKY!
- 22 June in the Novus Ordo: St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More
- ASK FATHER: Bishop bully: You have the right to kneel, but not to a kneeler.
- ROME 22/06 – Day 21: Different kinds of pawns
- “The point of entry must always be ‘situatedness’.”
- Too good not to post
- ROME 22/06 – Day 20: Field of flowers
- ASK FATHER: If a Pope dies or resigns before a Consistory for the creation of Cardinals, are the designated men Cardinals or not?
- Online Conference with a good theme: Be Strong And Courageous – 18-22 July 2022
- Obedience and being a “restorationist”
- ROME 22/06 – Day 19: At a snail’s pace
- Really?
- ROME 22/06 – Day 18: Honoring the Blessed Sacrament
- Your (Corpus Christi) Sunday Sermon Notes – POLL
- ROME 22/06 – Day 17: SPLAT!
- YOUR URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS
- A look at Peter’s Pence
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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Hopefully that’s all he received at mass.
I can’t see the picture???
Which brings me to the question: is the forehead the proper place for imposing the ashes, or is it the top of the head.
At today’s Mass, there were two priests imposing ashes.
I noticed that one priest, the main celebrant, imposed the ashes in the forehead of each recipient, by dipping his thumb in the ashes and then impressing the thumb in the recipient’s forehead, saying the formula.
The concelebrant (who imposed the ashes upon me), picked a small quantity of ash with his fingers, and then sprinkled it on the top of the head of each recipient in the form of a cross, reciting the formula. Of course, when you move out of the queue, the a portion of the ashes falls from your hair to your shoulders, the front of your shirt, etc.
What is the correct mode of imposing ashes, then? On top of the head, or on the forehead?
I can’t see the picture either…
I couldn’t either, but then, I right-clicked the mouse, selected the option to open the picture in a new window, and, voilà, it was visible in the new window as well as on the blog itself.
My understanding is that in the old rite the ashes were sprinkled on the top of the head rather than pressed onto the forehead in the shape of a cross.
I believe that St. John Bosco, in some of his dreams and visions, was given by God the discernment to see the secret sins of others, manifested (in some cases) by an “oily mist” in front of their foreheads.
Not saying anything here. Just talking. Good day.
Ashes are imposed traditionally on the forehead of the laity.
Clerics receive ashes on their tonsure (crown of the head).
I know that in the older form, this method was strictly followed in the Latin Church and was dictated by the rubrics.
I am unaware if there is an option or change in the newer form, though I seriously doubt it.
It would be nice, for his sake, if he listened to and understood the words spoken during the distribution of ashes and then let those words effect his positions on certain moral issues.
I can’t see the picture either. Followed Prof. Basto’s instructions; right-clicked the mouse, but there
was no option to open the picture in a new window.
I’m using Google Chrome, and I right-clicked when the cursor was standing on the place where the picture should be.
A pictorial sad commentary.
For those of you who can’t see the picture, it is a picture of VP Joe Biden with ashes on his forehead.
I know that this is OT, but the blog title does say “Not Quite Articulate”
VP Biden today on the CBS “Early Show” said he didn’t know a website’s “number”.
http://tinyurl.com/ado5v9 (Fox News)
IP addresses are numbers, but I don’t think VP Biden remembers 76.198.127.46
In a way, this is exactly what’s wrong with the Catholic Democrats in Congress. They bear a bit of a smudge on them, vaguely recognizable as something Catholic to other Catholics, but completely unidentifiable as anything of real meaning to other folks.
And who are we to say that the VP is not wearing ashes precisely because of his recognition of how grievously he has offended God by his support of abortion? Were that the case, then his display of ashes would be completely appropriate,no?
Now home and still can’t see it.
So he has ashes. Where’s the sackcloth?
(sorry)
It’s a cultural difference. In Italy and many parts of Europe, ashes are sprinkled on the crown of the head. In the UK and USA, they are imposed on the forehead in the shape of a cross.
Yes, he is wrong on the issue of abortion, but instead of making snide comments, pray for him.
He IS still your brother in Christ you know…
Repentance is always a good step. We should be happy and hopeful at such a sign.
I agree with John W. As we enter Lent, surely we are all considering our own sins, as none of us are innocent. Let’s not be distracted from our own sinfulness by the sins of others. The continuing public snide comments are not going to convert anyone’s views on abortion. Prayer is the only weapon at our disposal that can do that.
Easily visible in Google Chrome, unreachable in IE. Don’t understand that.
Father, could you have a word with Rocco? [I don’t believe Rocco is the sort who would take much note of my observations.] The head on his photo of ashes being imposed reads, “Quia pulvis es”. Yecch.
John (et al),
but instead of making snide comments, pray for him.
He IS still your brother in Christ you know…
It\’s not an either-or. It\’s a both. (I pray for his boss, too).
And, btw, abortion is not the only issue where he publicly stands against Church teaching (just the most important). If the ashes he displays on his forehead are a sign of authentic repentance, fantastic. In the meantime, I cannot help but to look at him as anything but another CINO politician who uses Catholicism to gain votes while materially contributing to evil (abortion, but not only abortion) in a very public fashion. See this transcript from Zenit on the Catholic political vocation.
Snarking may be a little hard, but allowing oneself to be deceived is harder (ref Matt 10:16). Frankly, I see as much irony in that picture as I see in the pic of the Chief Theologian of the House kissing the Holy Father’s ring (from his visit last April).
In the 1962 Missal “….having first received the ashes on his own head from the highest in dignity of the clergy, he (the priest) proceeds to place them in the form of a cross on the heads or foreheads of the clergy and people…” The people at St. Stephen’s, Sacramento, received the ashes on the forehead. The priests received theirs on their tonsures (top of the head).
Mark, with all due respect the internet has more than enough Catholics going after him, and I suspect not enough praying for him.
I agree that he needs prayers, and some serious prayers that his guardian angel get some much needed help in keeping bad spiritual influences away from him. The poor man is seriously misguided and obviously obtuse about comprehending the corrections from the Bishops.
His behavior is a scandal, but if enough of us were prayer whose to say a miracle would not occur?
And who are we to say that the VP is not wearing ashes precisely because of his recognition of how grievously he has offended God by his support of abortion? Were that the case, then his display of ashes would be completely appropriate,no?
Comment by sarsfield
It would only be appropriate if it were accomplished by him not taking Communion.
This is a mess created by the hierarchy.
Sadly, this reminds me of the Bill Clinton days with Bill running around with his Bible clutched to his side. One commentator referred to the Bible as Bill’s “prop.” Tom
Ashes on Ash Wednesday are a sign to the person receiving them, a reminder of our own need to turn to God. Another example–signing ourself with holy water. As such, they are for us as members of the Body of Christ. The rest of us watching should not get so caught up in the watching! In the mean time, we would all do better praying for each other and praying for ourselves to have the awareness of our own weaknesses.
Maybe his face is really black from all the death and lies that he has been selling and that is where the white wash has worn off.
Jim Dorchak
Ashes on Ash Wednesday are a sign to the person receiving them, a reminder of our own need to turn to God. Another example—signing ourself with holy water. As such, they are for us as members of the Body of Christ. The rest of us watching should not get so caught up in the watching! In the mean time, we would all do better praying for each other and praying for ourselves to have the awareness of our own weaknesses.
Comment by elizabeth
First, you tell us we should mind our own business. Then you proceed to give advice, which means you are not minding yours.
Biden is the VP. The VP and President are everyone’s business.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/gallery/0225_ashwednesday/
Nice caption. I wonder what purpose vilifying the V.P. serve. On Ash Wednesday no less when we’re called to remind ourselves of our own sins; that we’re no better than anyone else as my pastor said in his homily. Sure he’s made a lot of bad decisions, but every Catholic, even the bad ones have a right to ashes.
I can see the picture using IE, but not Firefox.
Anyone have a commentary from Dom Gueranger on sackcloth and ash?
I think it is an important spiritual theme for Lent and be nice to hear some words of the Liturgical Master.
John,
Mark, with all due respect the internet has more than enough Catholics going after him, and I suspect not enough praying for him.
LOL. You are right on that aspect.
BTW, speaking of that, have you seen the site, http://www.convertobama.com ?
Lent does have the tendency to bring out the self-righteous.
The man is one of many Catholics publicly responsible for killing over 4,000 babies a day!!!
Get that??
4,000 babies a day!!!!
I don’t care if there’s a ton of ash on the man’s head, it’s a public scandal. The only form of penance we should expect from this guy is a public apology and a vow to fight against abortion from here on out. Bodily mortification means squat without a change of heart.
Because they are so ardent, I would have thought that Biden and Nancy Pelosi would have asked that whole crucifixion scenes be ashed onto their foreheads yesterday.
“Yes I Cain”
I always find it ironic that the Gospel for Ash Wednesday chides the Pharisees for making public displays of their penance, and then we go up and get a big mark on our foreheads that announces to the world that we are making penance…
As with most other aspects of JB’s public persona, the ashes only show that he went to church…we’ll have to look at his policies from this point forward to see if there has been any change of heart. I’m not holding my breath…
The Veep and POTUS. What a pair;
GG:
Do you believe in sin?
OBAMA:
Yes.
GG:
What is sin?
OBAMA:
Being out of alignment with my values.
http://falsani.blogspot.com/2008/04/barack-obama-2004-god-factor-interview.html
I think this is the Fr. Z version of the Rorschach test. There is no picture.
Indeed, back in Poland, the ashes are sprinkled over the crown of the head.
wht abt this black mark on his forehead??
There is a picture and my question is why did Biden have his picture taken with ashes on his forehead anyway? Publicity stunt?