While there is not a ton of good church news….this morning I saw the plans for the new church my pastor plans to build and it will be gorgeous! It is to be modeled on the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi and as a Third Order Franciscan I am very pleased about that.
Father, given that even some limitedly and moderately good news is still good …
This evening I came across some bottles of the American Trappist Spencer Pale Ale that you have referred to at least once in your blog, and it is as amazingly delicious as you promised.
Unusually among Trappist beers, it is simultaneously an industrial lager 100% (technically), and an artisan craft beer 100%, because the monks at St Joseph’s in Massachusetts provide all of the craft and industry themselves, and clearly use only the finest and purest ingredients and recipes.
And crikes, it is tasty !!!
Unquestionably the best beer I’ve ever come across from North of the Mexican border (personal tastes might conceivably diverge concerning beers from south of that border), and it is an instant addition to my top 5 favourite beers (two of which now only exist in diminished ersatz form, unless you can actually get to stay in the Monastery in question).
Thank you Father for recommending it, and may I second the recommendation ? Spencer Trappist Indian Pale Ale is amazingly good — I’ve little doubt that their other ales are equally impressive.
After a 10 day hiatus (mom’s doctoring: 88 & daily rosary warrior & my own).. Returned to the Monastery of Bethlehem Livingston manor ny & the sisters are still praying for the Church & the world!
Ooooo, I’ve been waiting for a ‘good news’ post!
On December 12th, St. John the Evangelist parish in Townsend MA celebrated (what I believe is) the first Traditional Latin Mass since the new building was erected. Built as a NO, there is no ‘real’ altar, but Fr. Jason Worthley turned ‘ad orientum
Due to a mysterious health problem last year, we racked up thousands of dollars in medical bills. The local hospital, where procedures were done, offers financial assistance, and after only 2 weeks, I got notice that we qualify for 100% financial assistance. The entire balance, $999, was covered!
Another bit of good news: Although we got more than a foot of snow yesterday, as of now all the streets in my neighborhood are plowed, and none of our cars broke down!
Our parish in the Archdiocese of Washington has 90 altar boys, which means 5 altar boys per mass. They are well schooled and so reverent in their actions at mass. No sloppiness here. At Holy Thursday Mass, we have a special ceremony where the priest bestows on the new altar boys their altar robes. Last year there were 20 young boys who participated. The altar boys are thriving at our church which is very traditional and that is due to our wonderful priest.
Do I have good news for elevation and edification? – well, maybe not anything that would impress anyone much, unless they are very considerate of the small joys we lesser Christians sometimes are blessed with – but, this Christmas season, all (not many, not most, all) of the old people I know well seemed closer to the Lord than they had the Christmas before. What I mean to say is, I am someone who looks to my fellow Christians, whether they like me or not, with the hope that they will pray – pray effectively – for me — and for some reason that I cannot explain (similar, in its modest way, maybe, to those small miracles of healing that the Blesseds like to provide, even though they are not actual verified miracles and never will be – but who cares?, they made someone happy – I am fairly certain that someone like Solanus Casey has done this, not hundreds of times, not thousands of times, but hundreds of thousands of times), anyway, for some reason I can’t explain, whenever I tried to pray for some of my older friends this Christmas season, I had a feeling of comfort I have never had in any previous Christmas season – a feeling that one or more of the old people I was praying for did not really need my prayers at all, and were in fact praying for me at that exact same time (and I need their prayers!). That being said, at the church I go to, every single sermon was preached with Christian enthusiasm and love, from the first Sunday of Advent on, so maybe all I am relating is the good effect I profited from, due to the prayerful and kind efforts of the priests in my parish. Well I missed one sermon due to the flu, and I wish I hadn’t.
Sorry if this seems like a sloppy and possibly not accurate piece of good news. I would not have written this comment last year, or the year before, or the year before that. So, sloppy or not, it was, to that extent, accurate and heart-felt.
My FSSP parish at home is preparing to build a much-needed larger church, and here at college I have found many more students who are open to or prefer the TLM than I expected, even just in my freshman class.
Our 24 year old daughter has returned to our Catholic faith. She was an atheist and a feminist and we never thought we would see the day that she would return home . She hated the Church.
Thank you Lord. Words can not explain the joy in our hearts. Never give up praying. I consecrated her to Our Blessed Mother and also have a special devotion to The Infant of Prague. I attend daily mass and offered many many masses for her.
Witnessing a conversion is a powerful experience, when it is your child though the joy is almost too much to bear.
Never cease praying especially all of you Mothers . Mothers prayers are special
Our first child is due on the 10th February, and so far it’s all looking good. Our local(ish) priest is very happy to baptise him/her in the traditional rite, and we’ve got the godparents sorted.
On a very different tack, after reading Patrick O’Brian I’ve got an urge to start drinking sherry, and it seems sherry is underpriced because it’s so unfashionable. Bibulous bargains beckon!
My photo of the confessional at Santo Stefano in Assisi is going to be published in a forthcoming book on church architecture by one of the priest-professors at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. It’s in the galley proofs. I can’t tell you too much about the book itself, as it’s in Spanish, but as Fr Z always says (and I say frequently in my homilies) …
Go to confession.
It really is such a beautiful gift we’ve received.
Transition to forced retirement proceeding well. Schedule of LOTH, daily Mass, lectio divina, Adoration, rosary, going to the gym when it isn’t crowded, what’s not to like?
A family member was diagnosed with ALS early last year. He’s a lapsed RC, and has steadfastly been resisting efforts for spiritual and medical care. He’s down now 60 pounds and has difficulty with all of his normal bodily functions.
The family RC prayer warriors have been storming heaven for months. Finally, two days ago he agreed to see an ALS MD and get palliative care. Hallelujah! Thank you Blessed Virgin, Saint Joseph, Saint Rita and you Guardian Angels! We continue to pray for his reconversion.
I have been hired as a full time employee at the company I have been temping at!!! This after 7 years of unemployment/ temp work when I could get it.
The baby I asked for prayers here a year ago because he has a rare chromosomal anomaly and was supposed to die with in a week of birth is almost 14 months old
Over the last couple of years, since we welcomed our current pastor, and then when we unexpectedly were granted a parochial vicar as well, the use of Latin at Mass has been steadily moving forward! The last 2 Advents and Lents, we have been singing Latin(/Greek) chant Ordinaries, and starting this past 1st Sunday of Advent, we began singing the “Salve Regina” at the end of every Mass, which is printed in our new Pew Missals in neumes! We sing it just before the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, which our Pastor started almost as soon as he got here! We had a High Latin Mass for the Feast of St. Raphael, which we also did last year. Every First Friday evening is a low EF Mass, and on Wednesdays at 5:30 is what Father calls a “Latin/English” Mass, which is probably the Novus Ordo done partly in Latin. It might not seem like much to those of you who are used to it, but as Fr. Z says, “Brick by brick …!”
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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
An Old Historian on WDTPRS – Spy Wednesday: The final prayers: “Father: Every Paragraph, Sentence, and Word is Majestic, Meaningful, Uplifting, Promising, Humbling, and it all provides a full measure of…”
Sportsfan on ROME 24/3– Day 7: Oooops!: “From the video it looked like Rapport smelled blood in the water but deliberately slowed down to either twist the…”
Sid Cundiff in NC on ROME 24/3– Day 7: Oooops!: ““Last night ossobuco at humble but reliably good place which hasn’t ever disappointed” Where? Name?”
grateful on ROME 24/3– Day 6: Quiet Day: “It looks like that is loaded with healthy food… hope there are no potholes in Rome.”
teomatteo on ROME 24/3– Day 7: Oooops!: ““…Full moon over Campo De’Fiori” and in a half of moon cycle it will be the New moon over Richmond,…”
Everyone, work to get this into your parish bulletins and diocesan papers.
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.
St. John Eudes
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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.”
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“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.”
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- C.S. Lewis
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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
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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My son was accepted to both Seton Hall and Rutgers. Still waiting to hear from Stevens Institute and Montclair State.
While there is not a ton of good church news….this morning I saw the plans for the new church my pastor plans to build and it will be gorgeous! It is to be modeled on the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi and as a Third Order Franciscan I am very pleased about that.
Father, given that even some limitedly and moderately good news is still good …
This evening I came across some bottles of the American Trappist Spencer Pale Ale that you have referred to at least once in your blog, and it is as amazingly delicious as you promised.
Unusually among Trappist beers, it is simultaneously an industrial lager 100% (technically), and an artisan craft beer 100%, because the monks at St Joseph’s in Massachusetts provide all of the craft and industry themselves, and clearly use only the finest and purest ingredients and recipes.
And crikes, it is tasty !!!
Unquestionably the best beer I’ve ever come across from North of the Mexican border (personal tastes might conceivably diverge concerning beers from south of that border), and it is an instant addition to my top 5 favourite beers (two of which now only exist in diminished ersatz form, unless you can actually get to stay in the Monastery in question).
Thank you Father for recommending it, and may I second the recommendation ? Spencer Trappist Indian Pale Ale is amazingly good — I’ve little doubt that their other ales are equally impressive.
After a 10 day hiatus (mom’s doctoring: 88 & daily rosary warrior & my own).. Returned to the Monastery of Bethlehem Livingston manor ny & the sisters are still praying for the Church & the world!
Ooooo, I’ve been waiting for a ‘good news’ post!
On December 12th, St. John the Evangelist parish in Townsend MA celebrated (what I believe is) the first Traditional Latin Mass since the new building was erected. Built as a NO, there is no ‘real’ altar, but Fr. Jason Worthley turned ‘ad orientum
Oops, didn’t finish…
…and did a fine job. Please pray for him & the parish, that this effort may continue.
My mother had a minor heart attack just after Christmas and she is recovering really well.
I snagged a certain priest for my parish Lenten Mission.
Due to a mysterious health problem last year, we racked up thousands of dollars in medical bills. The local hospital, where procedures were done, offers financial assistance, and after only 2 weeks, I got notice that we qualify for 100% financial assistance. The entire balance, $999, was covered!
Another bit of good news: Although we got more than a foot of snow yesterday, as of now all the streets in my neighborhood are plowed, and none of our cars broke down!
Chesterton Academy will soon visit the Byzantine Church of St John.
Our parish in the Archdiocese of Washington has 90 altar boys, which means 5 altar boys per mass. They are well schooled and so reverent in their actions at mass. No sloppiness here. At Holy Thursday Mass, we have a special ceremony where the priest bestows on the new altar boys their altar robes. Last year there were 20 young boys who participated. The altar boys are thriving at our church which is very traditional and that is due to our wonderful priest.
Do I have good news for elevation and edification? – well, maybe not anything that would impress anyone much, unless they are very considerate of the small joys we lesser Christians sometimes are blessed with – but, this Christmas season, all (not many, not most, all) of the old people I know well seemed closer to the Lord than they had the Christmas before. What I mean to say is, I am someone who looks to my fellow Christians, whether they like me or not, with the hope that they will pray – pray effectively – for me — and for some reason that I cannot explain (similar, in its modest way, maybe, to those small miracles of healing that the Blesseds like to provide, even though they are not actual verified miracles and never will be – but who cares?, they made someone happy – I am fairly certain that someone like Solanus Casey has done this, not hundreds of times, not thousands of times, but hundreds of thousands of times), anyway, for some reason I can’t explain, whenever I tried to pray for some of my older friends this Christmas season, I had a feeling of comfort I have never had in any previous Christmas season – a feeling that one or more of the old people I was praying for did not really need my prayers at all, and were in fact praying for me at that exact same time (and I need their prayers!). That being said, at the church I go to, every single sermon was preached with Christian enthusiasm and love, from the first Sunday of Advent on, so maybe all I am relating is the good effect I profited from, due to the prayerful and kind efforts of the priests in my parish. Well I missed one sermon due to the flu, and I wish I hadn’t.
Sorry if this seems like a sloppy and possibly not accurate piece of good news. I would not have written this comment last year, or the year before, or the year before that. So, sloppy or not, it was, to that extent, accurate and heart-felt.
My FSSP parish at home is preparing to build a much-needed larger church, and here at college I have found many more students who are open to or prefer the TLM than I expected, even just in my freshman class.
Our 24 year old daughter has returned to our Catholic faith. She was an atheist and a feminist and we never thought we would see the day that she would return home . She hated the Church.
Thank you Lord. Words can not explain the joy in our hearts. Never give up praying. I consecrated her to Our Blessed Mother and also have a special devotion to The Infant of Prague. I attend daily mass and offered many many masses for her.
Witnessing a conversion is a powerful experience, when it is your child though the joy is almost too much to bear.
Never cease praying especially all of you Mothers . Mothers prayers are special
Into the 2nd round of interviews for a job, please pray people.
Our first child is due on the 10th February, and so far it’s all looking good. Our local(ish) priest is very happy to baptise him/her in the traditional rite, and we’ve got the godparents sorted.
On a very different tack, after reading Patrick O’Brian I’ve got an urge to start drinking sherry, and it seems sherry is underpriced because it’s so unfashionable. Bibulous bargains beckon!
My photo of the confessional at Santo Stefano in Assisi is going to be published in a forthcoming book on church architecture by one of the priest-professors at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. It’s in the galley proofs. I can’t tell you too much about the book itself, as it’s in Spanish, but as Fr Z always says (and I say frequently in my homilies) …
Go to confession.
It really is such a beautiful gift we’ve received.
Transition to forced retirement proceeding well. Schedule of LOTH, daily Mass, lectio divina, Adoration, rosary, going to the gym when it isn’t crowded, what’s not to like?
A family member was diagnosed with ALS early last year. He’s a lapsed RC, and has steadfastly been resisting efforts for spiritual and medical care. He’s down now 60 pounds and has difficulty with all of his normal bodily functions.
The family RC prayer warriors have been storming heaven for months. Finally, two days ago he agreed to see an ALS MD and get palliative care. Hallelujah! Thank you Blessed Virgin, Saint Joseph, Saint Rita and you Guardian Angels! We continue to pray for his reconversion.
I went on the March for Life with the Institute of Christ the King and had a WONDERFUL time! I was so proud to be there!
I have been hired as a full time employee at the company I have been temping at!!! This after 7 years of unemployment/ temp work when I could get it.
The baby I asked for prayers here a year ago because he has a rare chromosomal anomaly and was supposed to die with in a week of birth is almost 14 months old
I had a cancer test last week and everything is clear.
Over the last couple of years, since we welcomed our current pastor, and then when we unexpectedly were granted a parochial vicar as well, the use of Latin at Mass has been steadily moving forward! The last 2 Advents and Lents, we have been singing Latin(/Greek) chant Ordinaries, and starting this past 1st Sunday of Advent, we began singing the “Salve Regina” at the end of every Mass, which is printed in our new Pew Missals in neumes! We sing it just before the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, which our Pastor started almost as soon as he got here! We had a High Latin Mass for the Feast of St. Raphael, which we also did last year. Every First Friday evening is a low EF Mass, and on Wednesdays at 5:30 is what Father calls a “Latin/English” Mass, which is probably the Novus Ordo done partly in Latin. It might not seem like much to those of you who are used to it, but as Fr. Z says, “Brick by brick …!”
frjim4321: Praise be to God, Father.