A couple of WDTPRS’s favorite Cardinals will soon be taking possession of their cardinalatial titles in Rome:
Sabato 5 febbraio 2011, alle ore 18.30, l’Em.mo Cardinale Raymond Leo Burke, Prefetto del Supremo Tribunale della Segnatura Apostolica, prenderà possesso della Diaconia di Sant’Agata de’ Goti, Via Mazzarino, 16.
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Domenica 13 febbraio 2011, alle ore 12.00, l’Em.mo Cardinale Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don, Arcivescovo di Colombo, prenderà possesso del Titolo di San Lorenzo in Lucina, Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina, 16/A.
I am delighted that they both received ancient titles, rather than a newer one created from some parish on the periphery.
For those of you who are interested in such things, Cardinal Henrico Dante is interred at Sant’Agatha de’Goti and at San Lorenzo in Lucina there is a great painting of the Crucifixion by Guido Reni. I believe Poussin is there as well.
Meanwhile… from another cardinal, once Cardinal of San Giorgio in Velabro …
Just last week I ordered a Cardinal Newman mug and a Oremus Pro Pontifice mug, but due to Snowmageddon they are delayed. I am thinking of getting one of the Cardinal Newman mugs for my mother as she is a Episcopal. She has been a member of many denominations, but the latest is the closest she has been to Catholic. Please pray for her conversion.
Fr. Z.,
Have you written an explanation about a cardinal taking possession of his titles and what that means? Does the cardinal then live in the title? Is he the pastor of the parish? Is there a pastor or rector of the parish similar to a cathedral setup? Is it a regular parish or simply a church that is designated as a title? What is the significance of the title in general?
Thank you again for your posts. They are very edifying and informative.
“To be deep in Mystic Monk Coffee is to cease to be sloth-ish”
On a more serious note, David I will keep your mother in my prayers.
Fr. Z,
What timing! I just used that exact same quote from Cardinal Newman to end a 20-page final paper for my college course on Christian Conversion! Accordingly, the title of my paper was “Christ’s Church and Catholicism: A Historical Analysis of the One True Church.” Now, because this is the University of Michigan, I was a little worried about being “zapped” grade-wise by my likely liberal teacher. (I think he was Eastern Orthodox, so I made a point of saying how close in doctrine these “two lungs” of the Church are.) Luckily, he turned out to be a very objective grader.
Here’s another good quote, this one by G.K. Chesterton: “Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it on something solid.” I used it in an English paper about the true definition of open-mindedness. This time, however, I did get “zapped” (different professor), probably because I alluded to the existence of God as the source of truth and moral issues such as abortion. I guess that’s just “The Michigan Difference” right there!
Nevertheless, it is a good quote–one I would recommend strongly for any future WDTPRS mugs.
San Lorenzo in Lucina is a very beautiful church. Behind the reredos, there is a beautiful choir, and in the center a hidden door with a marble chair used by Pope Paschal. The pastor was kind enough to show me and my parents and had me sit in it. Sad things is that I had such a bad headache that day, I could barely see it.
Once upon a time, San Lorenzo in Lucina was the church proper to the Cardinal Protopriest. Not a very ancient thing though, and a tradition that was discontinued after the 19th century.
It’s just way too cool that a guy born in Richland Center, Wisconsin is now titular of a deaconry centered on a church built by Ricimer for the Arians in the 5th century.