Too many people today are without good, strong preaching, to the detriment of all. Share the good stuff.
Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at the Masses for the 1st Sunday of Lent?
Tell about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass. I hear that it is growing. Of COURSE.
Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?
Those of you who regularly viewed my live-streamed daily Masses – with their fervorini – for over a year, you might drop me a line.
I have some written remarks about the TLM Mass for this Sunday – HERE
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Evening NO at the diocesan cathedral. The pastor have a solid homily on resisting temptation and being attentive in prayer, but that wasn’t the highlight of the Mass, for me anyway. The highlight was in fact that the Kyrie was chanted in Greek, while the Sanctus/Benedictus, Agnus Dei, Mysterium Fidei, Communion antiphon, and the dismissal were chanted in Latin. Many other parts of the Mass were chanted in English, and the one modern hymn that was sung was still recognizably Catholic. To top it off, the full Confiteor was used and the sign of peace consisted of a few nods and handshakes lasting only a few seconds. It is not uncommon for this particular church to make use of some traditional options or throw in some Latin, even during ordinary time, but tonight they went much more “trad” than I’ve ever seen them do before. I made sure to complement the pastor on the way out. No ideological comments or comparisons between the NO and TLM, just a quick mention of how much I appreciated the extensive use of Latin chant. Pastors need to hear these things. Also, attendance was pretty high. I don’t know if that’s because the parish is taking a very traditional turn during lent or because we had unseasonably good weather tonight.
Oh, my, we heard about temptations today in the homily. Temptations can be powerful. We were told to SUFFER them. Don’t run away from them. OFFER it up! Lesser daily temptations are impossible to be free of; so ignore them, go on and live well. They remind us to pray and through them we become stronger. God is faithful!
Father discussed the importance of fasting in order to be able to resist the temptations of Satan. (I guess it is a name so should be capitalized.). He pointed out the Church requirement of fasting only 2 days a year is not enough. He also pointed out it is important to remember that Our Lord was tempted just like we are, quoting Hebrews. On judgment day we cannot say that we should be excused from giving in to temptations because our Lord did not know what it is like to be tempted. This was the TLM, I assume he preached the same sermon at his NO Mass ( since both Gospels are about the devil tempting Christ). To me this makes his points about the number of official fast days interesting. Obviously he is correct about this.
Diocesan TLM (my regular Sunday Mass). Saw a long-time acquaintance there for the first time… another reminder that, despite (or maybe because of?) Traditionis Custodes, faithful Catholics are still finding their way to the TLM after a lifetime at the Novus Ordo.
Father reminded us that if you consumed meat on Ash Wednesday or Friday, a grave sin was committed.
Also, he suggested that if you go to Confession on a weekly basis, and the lines are long, maybe give way to those unfamiliar faces who may not have confessed in a long time.
TLM was busy today.
Required Father to return to the Altar twice to retrieve additional consecrated hosts during Communion
I went to the first Mass at my parish this morning. Normally it is the Mass according to the liturgical books of 1962. But as it was the 1st Sunday of the month by way of Traditionis custodes, the Mass was according to the 2002 missal but with most of it in Latin (the readings & responsorial psalm in English) & no music.
This is the 2nd NO in Latin at this parish but I didn’t go the first one. I actually forgot today was NO-Latin.
I listened to the homily but I was so discombobulated that I had a hard time tuning into the homily. I say this as a newbie to the TLM. But in the short time I’ve been going to the TLM I have assimilated into the rhythm of the TLM ( and of course I love it).
They had provided a handout with all the laity’s responses in Latin but really no one responded and Father did them. There was a portion where the laity was supposed to stand (and one man did then promptly sat down) but everyone kept sitting through the next couple of prayers. I don’t know if it was lack of familiarity with NO or an effort to not participate.
NO in Latin only served to highlight the shortcomings of the NO. It seemed like an abridged version of TLM and not a very good one either.
Maybe it’s my imagination but there seemed to be a few less people than usual.
In both our NO mass for Sunday and our First Saturday TLM the theme was Intentions. What are our intentions for Lent? They should be to strengthen our relationship with God. This is the point of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Our prayers should be intentional and not rote. He told a story of one day giving the St. Blaise blessing of throats to a group of school children. As he was doing the blessing he found himself rushing through the prayer to get through the large number of kids. At about the tenth child, a little girl asked him “Father why did you say the prayer so fast?”. That made him think – what are my intentions here, to just get through this? No it is to give blessings to these children. So he took his time with the remaining kids.
Our NO Mass included the Sanctus and Agnus Dei sung in Latin, plus the Roman Canon (EP1) was used.
Sunday of Orthodoxy in the Byzantine Church. Restoration of the Icons. In AD 726 veneration of holy images was banned by Emporer Leo, and all icons were removed from sacred spaces. Restored in 842 under Empress Theodora in Constantinople on the first Sunday of Lent.
Additionally, the pastor is from Ukraine, and he expressed thanks for the prayers for his parents. His son (I
Guess about 19 y.o.) is now in Poland and described some of the hardships there. He didn’t say much more, for now.