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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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My good news is it will be in the 30’s today!! This bitter cold has gotten VERY old and I’m quite tired of it. No more single digits this week! Deo Gratis!
I just moved to Wiesbaden, Germany!
We’ve just been assigned a new pastor at our parish. He’s very tradtional liturgically, doctrinally and spiritually.
He has a big task ahead of him (merging parishes into one). Our family (shoot, *many families*) is ecstatic with his appointment to our area. He’s the kind of priest that “digs” sins out of you in the confessional.
Now I am waiting and praying about approaching him with possibly celebrating the EF after the “mergings”.
MSM
Some very difficult issues re my B.Theol Honours commencement are in the process of resolution. I have been advised however that my original thesis proposals are wholely unsuitable due to the lack of peer reviewed academic material available to use as a source; don’t even think about suggesting a servey etc. as the ethics committee process takes forever and is inadvisable according to my academic advisor. but we’ve made a start. I’m at the university on Monday 17th February to speak to said Academic Advisor re new topic material and the disability people to organise Braille, accessible E-format material etc. Please pray…I’ll have the pleasure of attending one of the most beautiful and reverend renderings of the NO in Sydney (my husband and I are making the 3 hour pilgrimage North for the uni things and he’s dropping me off at church while he attends other business; he’s lapsed catholic; I married him whilst still SDA yet to detox in evangelical Protestantism – never dreamt I’d become a Catholic!!! – but God’s plans are greater than our own).
Please pray all goes well and that our Lord and Lady guide the process 100% from provision of accessible material to thesis subject choice (remember, its a run of the mill Catholic uni….get the picture???…but offers supurb disability support).
Furthermore, I have the opportunity this coming Friday to attend our local NO parish over the river and give an entire morning to Jesus and Mary with my own prayer and rosary, then formal rosary at 10am followed by exposition then mass!!!!!! And confession on Sat morning!!!!!!! We are so very blessed!!!!!! are there guitars sometimes? yes. I there ‘sisters and brothers’, yes, but I’ve heard some of the best sermons on confession and ‘right to life’ these past two months here, indeed, the only sermons in a regular mass on the subject in this church. I am also learning to walk the hour walk one way with the guide dog instructor as the first bus of the day on weekday mornings gets me to mass 15 minutes late (and the church 150 metres up the street here is only open on Sundays). Additionally, Thu 20th Feb the new young priest of our parish is coming to bless our house!!! YAY!!!!!!!! Please pray for Fr. D., as he’s only two years out of Seminary and still ‘finding his feet’. He is a dear, and an amazing confessor (I believe its a distinct gifting that has been given to him)- I sense the person of Christ quite profoundly and tangibly when partaking of this sacrament upon occasions he’s scheduled. these are greater treasures than many readers here could dream of in their own parish and for that I am deeply thankful. Is it the EF? No. Is it on the right track? Yes, especially in light of some of the Catholic shinanigans I have run into during my brief time as a catholic convert from evangelical Protestantism…Do we have one amazing priest able to give the latin mass? likely; he sometimes concludes the exposition prayers and does so with a lovely latin song of praise – but he has prostate cancer so please please pray for Fr. R!!!! He’ll be a sad loss to the parish if he has to retire or worse.
St. Theresa Benedicta (Dr. Edith Stein), pray for us,
St. peragrin, pray for us,
Bl. Card John Henry Newman, Pray for us.
PS: for computer access for persons with little or no sight go to http://www.satogo.com
Next Friday (21st) Father is coming over to enthrone the Sacred Heart of Jesus at our home (apartment). Our sons who live downstairs are also being done at the same time. Sacred Heart of Jesus, we trust in you!
Meg got into RIT/NTID, her first choice for college. :)
I turned in my application to the Diocese to become a Seminarian last Tuesday (last week, not yesterday). Set up times for the physical, the psych. eval., the Virtus training, etc. The ball has started rolling…
And, while the author didn’t mention Summorum Pontificum, there was a favorable (!?!?!?) article on Pope Benedict on TIME’s (?!?!) Website. It was actually really good for MSM: http://ideas.time.com/2014/02/11/remember-benedict-the-meek/
And as a final good thing: I have been saying parts of the Liturgy of the Hours in Latin to get some practice (the opening dialogues, the final blessings, about half of Compline). It is really cool. I think as part of my Lenten disciplines, I will add more of it (perhaps saying all of Compline in Latin when alone).
Our new Bishop will be consecrated the day after tomorrow, one and a half years after our previous bishop took up residence in his new diocese. We’ll find out whether, now that the cat’s no longer away, the mice will continue to play. He’ll say his first Mass as bishop Sunday, so I’ll be able to report on any notable quotes from his homily!
Iacobus M
Vitafamilariscatholica@blogspot.com
The on-going resurgence of faithful Catholicism, and the approach of my first anniversary in spiritual direction, continue to bolster my hope for the reclamation of souls from the world, the flesh and the devil. Perhaps after another 500 or 1,000 external mortifications, large and small, I might even get a glimpse of what humility is about: let us pray!
Here in upstate New York we are pleased to be welcoming a new Bishop nominated by the Holy Father yesterday.
A group of 5 or 6 of us priests are going to St. John Cantius in April. A few are learning the TLM for the first time and some of us are learning High Mass.
Pope Francis remembers Santa Marta tourists of the Real Presence of God:
“The liturgical celebration is not a social act […] the Lord is made present on the altar to be offered to the Father for the salvation of the world.”
I have received positive replies from the people I applied to for accommodation for university later this year. :)
My temp job got extended till June and we are being trained for more stuff. It’s nice not to have to worry about where/whether the next paycheck is coming.
I also got a new Kindle Fire, so I’ve finally been able to download eBreviary. Boy, that’s just a super little resource, and my pulse and breathing rate got calmer just opening it up and starting. Yay!
RafqasRoad — Remember how much trouble that kid named Ratzinger had with getting his thesis topic through? Take heart!
Our Pastoral Council recently received a copy of the diocesan survey and mass attendance that was done, and found that in the two years since we’ve moved out of the public gym and into our own space, we’ve gone from being the 30th largest parish in the diocese, and in danger of closing, to being the 15th largest parish in the diocese, and on firm footing.
My good news is that I have been able to attend weekday EF Masses twice a week this month. Our priest had started out letting us know a day or so ahead of time when the church was free and he would be celebrating a private EF Mass. (No disrespect meant but I was tempted to call these “flash Masses). For February Father was able to reserve a regular time two afternoons a week. Now he sends a text reminder the day before.
Admittedly, it’s not an ideal time, since so many people work– but we do have a small core group started! We have gotten booklet missals in English-Latin as well as Spanish-Latin. One of our number knows the responses and when to ring the bells.
We are fortunate to have a priest who came to us experienced in the EF. Even so, it still takes support to get things going. Support your priests!
I asked last week that you pray for my wife who was having a biopsy for a breast abnormality. It was found to be benign. Thank you for all of your prayers. God is great. Thanks be to God!
After 8 years of being married, many prayers and novenas… I am pregnant. I thought it was impossible… but always kept hope. 10 weeks, 3 days. Laudetur Deo Mariaeque
My First Solemn High Mass on the Patronal Feast of Holy Family Parish(after so many Missa Cantatas and Low Masses). Deo Gratias!
And here is the Link for More Pictures of such a Happy Occasion.
http://deipraesidiofultus.blogspot.com/2014/02/holy-family-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph-ad.html
I am going to be interviewed for a job at an auto parts store in the next few weeks, which could possibly result in me getting my first job!
Daughter accepted by search firm to aid in her job hunting. Son won mega merit scholarship to attend college of his choice. Wife a living saint. Deo gratias!
I have a plane ticket to Italy in May! It will be my first time heading over there to the Old Country, and I’m going for two weeks. I plan to spend a few days in Rome, a few in Roccamorice(where my grandparents grew up), Assisi, Lucca, and possibly either Sienna or Turin, then back to Rome. Very excited for this. :)
Two new grandchildren born in the past two and half weeks. One girl, one boy–each the second child of our two youngest daughters. Our 14th and 15th grandchildren–healthy and a blessing to all the family.
New Bishop in Albany! Very Excited.
I have a job interview for a school in California tomorrow
Well, my hubby holds me in such high esteem that he is adorable about it even after more than 6 years of marriage. I feel happy and grateful for my family.
And the toddler who likes to chant is currently singing the alphabet song over and over and over and over–correctly.
No child is hitting any other child in the playroom at this time.
Weather is nicely over-cast and the roads are clear in our area.
I’m reading a delightful book by Declan Finn, a Catholic author, who writes delightfully improbable whodunit thrillers with a side of humor. If you can manage to keep the timeline and cast of characters straight, it is simply fun to read his convoluted plots, and get to know his characters who make me laugh and surprise me along the way. Yup, good light fun.
I am wearing wool socks that make my feet so happy the rest of me feels good too.
Had lunch this week with two very nice ladies who are in the SCA with me and am so glad I went because they are just wonderful people.
The free online Catholic Writer’s Guild writing workshops are coming up soon and my schedule allows me the online time to attend.
I spent four days at a silent retreat and as usual God had His own agenda rather different from mine and I ended up in confession three times. A record, and now I have new understanding of my own flaws and how to work at them.
Nobody here is sick. Everyone in the house is currently well.
My good news is rather ordinary goodness. Happy Happy Happy
Father emailed me back to tell me to check back in 2 weeks regarding having a Traditional Latin Mass at our parish. He made it clear he’s not opposed just VERY busy. He wants to speak with Msgr who is in residence at our rectory and can actually speak Latin! I put a reminder on my calendar. Thanks FR. Z for that post about the gentlemen who sent their priest to the Nebraska monastery to learn the Latin Mass. This is so wonderful for our parish. We NEED this!!!
SuburbanBanshee,
Thank you, thank you. At the heart of it are god’s plans, not my own. I’ve got to submit a completely new thesis proposal; three of them, actually…but if Papa Bennie had the patience to endure the process until his academic advisors said ‘yes’, then there’s heart to be taken here. I have a special devotion to St. Theresa Benedicta (Dr. Edith Stein) and often find myself asking her ‘was it like this in your day????!!!!’ The answer that invariably works its way into my consciousness with a touch of a knowing smile is ‘yes’. As a mature age student (43) I often wonder if this is a young person’s gig…but let God sort it for me.
to the commenter who spoke of the ‘blessing of the ordinary’, what a beautiful testimony. to find joy and peace in the everyday in light of the horror that is the ‘everyday’ for so many around the world, especially our persecuted brethren in Syria, parts of Lebanon, the PDRK etc. is healthy to our faith, gives due gratitude to He who has poured out amazing abundance upon us, and convicts/convinces us to take action be it prayer or material to aid the suffering of those in the aforementioned regions. though storms may be closing in on us here, we are still mightily blessed. /Furthermore, the example of our brethren in such lands is a sobering teaching tool for us who without a doubt need to learn from them for our own faith’s health and safety.
Re the ‘enthronement of the Sacred Heart’, I’ve only heard of this in passing; are there prayers especially for the dedication of one’s ‘sacred Heart of Jesus’ statue? if there are, I’d love to have a copy so Fr. D. can commission Him properly in our home here when he visits next week to conduct the house blessing.
Blessings and God’s peace to all.
@rafqasroad:
as a fellow Braille-reading disabled traditional catholic (we are soooo few and far between!) i shall gladly keep you in my prayers.
plus, I love the username… St. Rafqa rules!
my good news. I am learning Mozart’s Laudamuste as my first piece as a newly voiced soprano (not everything about reaching one’s late 20’s is bad apparently). The coloratura is hard to be sure, but after years of training as a borderline contralto i’ll be darned if those a’s don’t feel sweet!
Some dear friends had their prayers answered after a long wait.
Lux_Perpetua,
Greetings and welcome!! Indeed, we are few and far between, both in ‘Traditional’ Catholic circles and in the circle of those who share our disability, but there are a few who frequent this blog, perhaps one or two others who make up what I may cheekily term ‘the remnant of the remnant’. I covet your prayers and will likewise pray for you. St. Rafqa is rather amazing in my thinking (I initially wished to take her as my confirmation saint when I converted two and a bit years ago now but my Adult Christening instructor (what the Maronites term RCIA) suggested against it as I am not of like ethnicity – I did not see it as a barrier though and while I took Bl. Elizabeth of Castello out of courtesy, I harbour a deep affinity for St. Rafqa, along with St. Theresa Benedicta (Dr. Edith Stein, Bl. Hermon ‘the cripple’ (who I believe is far far overdue for Canonisation as is bl. Elizabeth already mentioned here) and a saint I learnt of only recently – St. Afra.
As one who has rarely attended a TLM, and is not in a position to attend one in the part of my state that my husband and I have recently moved to, I don’t know whether I truly fit into the category of ‘Traditional’ Catholic. I do however pine for the Maronite liturgy and though there are a few maronites down here, there aren’t enough to form a stable group, and the one source of Maronite priests who could serve us live 2.5-3 hours North. If you need latin material in Braille, I have been informed by http://www.torchtrust.org in the UK that http://www.xaviersocietyfortheblind.org in the US have the latin liturgy (of st. Pius V) along with a certain amount of prayer material in said language. for UK readers, Torch Trust has apparently worked with the Latin Mass Society to provide resources. In Australia, we need to approach either Xavier or Torch for resources if we do not possess the equipment to produce our own material. I wonder how it would be viewed if I were to take my laptop and refreshable Braille display into church setting up with laptop next to me and display in my lap, though with a guide dog to attend to such may be a bit awkward.
For the readers here who have guide dogs, plus those who puppy-raise and train guide dogs, , perhaps Fr. Z. could offer a saint’s post on the feast days of St. Hubert or st. Roq (both who have links to our canine companions). Additionally, perhaps he or a switched on commenter could see if there are traditional blessings for guide dogs, remembering that the modern guide dog movement commenced formally in Germany around 1917 and spread to the US, UK and Europe in the late 1920-s-early 1930’s – well within the lifetime of the more traditional book of blessings. I’m just rambling now, so I’ll leave the good Fr. and readers in peace.
Lux Perpetua,
The latter portion of your initial comment did not show on first reading – congratulations on your fine singing work!!! Beautiful!!!! How do you find access to Braille scores etc? May St. Cecelia bless your voice and gift of music to our Heavenly King!!
For the second morning in a row, I have heard a blackbird singing in the garden, one of my favourite birdsongs. Even though our winter has been fairly mild it is a reminder that Spring is not far off.
“Bless the Lord, all birds of the air, sing praise to Him and highly exalt Him forever.”
Daniel 3:58
My younger son turning 8 has just started to serve at our EF Mass with his older brother. The best part is as they went over the servers words and actions on a server’s “cheat sheet” before Mass, I overheard the younger son say to his brother, so we just “say the black and do the red?”. Perfect.
I went to confession yesterday evening.
My second child, Anne Catherine, will be baptised this Sunday, 16 February 2014.
I just have to say, that reading all of this good news has really picked up my mood. My twin sister just got out of the hospital and is recovering at home from a nasty tummy bug. Normally, not a thing to go to the ER for, but she has a compromised system and therefore gets lots sicker than she otherwise would. To Rafca’s Road and Lux, I am one among you as well. I felt for you especially Rafca’s Road, as I work in the document conversion unit of Disability services here at the University of Minnesota and so I completely understand your troubles with access. I’m glad you’re getting the accessible materials you need though and thanks for the links to the prayers your provided. I didn’t know they were out there. time to download new stuff onto my trusty braille display. Well, i’ll stop talking shop now and offer my good news. Like others, I’ve been hearing the birds singing outside in the mornings for the past few days now. It is so sweet and gratifying to hear them. I believe this meat-locker of a winter will at last be winding down. Oh yes, and I love being married. I love coming home to someone who loves me as much as my husband does, and I love having someone in my life who always finds the obscure saints. Rafqa’s, I recognized all of those saints because my husband always finds them and tells me about them. Anyway, that’s my good news, thanks for sharing yours.
After waiting till my 72nd birthday, I finally retired. Today I arranged for a steady income that should last enough years. Lord let me live long enough to use it all up!
The good people on my blog sent me enough money, plus a new small tutoring job, to get the meds necessary for my coming eye operations. I am so grateful. Also, I have a place to stay for month, so that I can have the ops, as I thought I had to cancel them.
But, keep praying, as I shall be looking for a new home by March 25th.
@RafqasRoad and @Torpedo1;
OK, now my good news is indisputably that, prior to reading this post, I had not ever made the acquaintance of a married, very-practicing-catholic, conservative, blind woman! and now, praise God, I at least virtually know of too! hope springs eternal. please, in your charity, pray that I would be blessed with the same vocation.
so as to not hijack this thread, please feel free to email me at luxperpetua22@gmail.com. I don’t think those who are used to finding like-minded individuals in their every day life can fully appreciate the joy of having made contact with someone who shares so many aspects of one’s identity, especially when those characteristics–both in body, ideology, and religion, usually place one outside the mainstream.
@rafqa, I will say though that the laptop+display option is how I attended the TLM until i got the hang of it. i would daresay that doing so probably raised the ire of some who hold the “to-create-noise-is-to-profane-the-sacred” mindset, but I can also candidly say that I really couldn’t care less. I turned off the monitor and put the laptop under the seat, but, as you know, advancing the display does make a small clicking sound, as does running one’s fingers over it.
I also sat (and still do sit) in the front,, which allowed me to hear the noises of the mass, from the thurible to the breaking of the Host to Father walking across the sanctuary, more acutely. Undoubtedly this might have raised a distraction also, but, as I said, I chose to adopt the perspective that my worship is as valuable to God almighty as anyone else’s, and hH most assuredly enjoys the fact that going to Mass this way made me fall more and more in love with Him week after week. i also made an appointment with father to have the sacristan show me all of the things which he deemed were appropriate for me to touch, all of the liturgical objects which are not (or rarely) used in the NO Mass, as well as vestments, so that I had a better idea of what was going on on the altar. This, i think, was the biggest favor anyone has ever done for me, and I will never ever forget him for it.
After attending the Mass for some time, however, I no longer felt that I needed the missal to help me keep my place in the Mass, nor did I feel the need to know what the Propers were any longer, which I once, coming from the Novus Ordo, thought was indispensable. I still do have hymns sent to me though so that I can sing.
anyway, i will pray in Thanksgiving for yours and all the good news here!
Lux,
If God has used my presence here to bring a little solice to a fellow believer in cimilar circumstances to my own, all praise goes to God on high!!
Re being an ‘outsider’, I know exactly what you mean; this has been the default, if you will, for the vast majority of my faith life throughout my denominational walk. My greatest regret is having not had reliable access to hymns at any time; when they shift so often one doesn’t have the opportunity to learn them, and understanding a congreagation singing in ‘churchese’ is nigh on impossible.
I’m glad you were able to take the braille display in to the TLM without incident (let the ‘religious police think what they may) and what a gift Fr. gave you!! the chaplain at university allowed me this self same privilege with the monstrance – it was beautiful to hold it and touch it!!!!!!
Sadly, I cannot attend a TLM anymore and miss it as do I my Maronite rite masses but God wills what God wills. We don’t have liberal use of incence at my current parish, more’s the pity, but there is something profound in hearing the crack of the host – our Lord broken again for us – in silence – that one moment within the mass in which time and space are suspended, regardless of the reverence or otherwise that may be a part of the liturgy Sitting up the front also keeps my guide dog out of the way.
Though I live in Australia and you most likely live in the Northern Hemisphere, Fr. Z. has made it possible via his blog for three persons who in the real world are perhaps one in a billion to fellowship and share; there are likely others who read here whose circumstances are similar. God bless Fr. Z., and God bless abundantly you, and torpedo also.
pray for me not to put my foot in it at my new NO parish home and to first offer it up rather than stage-whisper snarking under my breath in the first row when things become difficult (re music in mass and the like) it is rather ‘twelve-year-old and what would our Lord think up on His cross and in the tabernacle?? I shal pray for you also. Take heart and be of good courage. Re marriage, do know though that I married not until my mid 30’s and I was definitely NOT a catholic then and well, God has worked a miracle in my life turning it right around and giving me strengths I need to be the sole bearer of the faith in our union. a ‘model traddie marriage’ it aint, but God works with what is there…
Blessings to all on this feast day of St. Cyril and Methodious!! and St. Valentime (has his feast been abrogated?)