Category Archives: ASK FATHER Question Box

ASK FATHER: I just learned we have to confess mortal sins in kind and NUMBER. But I haven’t been doing that. I don’t want to go to Hell.

From a reader… QUAERITUR: I have recently learned I believe several years ago then when going to confession one must confess mortal sins by kind and “x” times #. Well, I don’t think I’ve ever done that until I found … Read More

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2 Comments

ASK FATHER: How do you argue with extreme fringe trads that the Novus Ordo is valid?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: I am asking advice that you’d think you’d never be asked to do – how to defend the Novus Ordo.  No, I don’t mean to defend it as being superior to the TLM – trust me, … Read More

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, The Id of Traddydom | Tagged
42 Comments

ASK FATHER: Am I cooperating with evil in my job by changing generic “he” on forms to gender neutral terms?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: My job with a state agency includes reviewing proposed regulations of other state agencies. For many years, when we did this task we would change old references to the generic “he” or “him“ to “he or … Read More

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices |
16 Comments

ASK FATHER: I don’t believe Francis is really the Pope. Is it a sin to go to Mass where his name is mentioned?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: I have read your blog on and off for years but recently began reading regularly. I always find your writing edifying and informative. I will try to keep my question/concern short and to the point. I … Read More

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Francis, Our Catholic Identity |
16 Comments

ASK FATHER: Pagan amulet for protection

From a reader… QUAERITUR: I know a young couple. The man from indigenous descent who is converting to the faith and who will be baptized and confirmed this April. She has asked about an amulet her husband never takes off … Read More

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5 Comments

ASK FATHER: Francis said priests must NEVER deny absolution. True? Wherein Fr. Z rants.

I’m getting a lot of questions about something that Francis said to seminarians from Barcelona.  Story at the Catholic Herald HERE. As the tale goes, Francis delivered profanity-studded “off the cuff” remarks to seminarians, including “not to be clerical, to forgive everything”, adding … Read More

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, GO TO CONFESSION, Hard-Identity Catholicism, SESSIUNCULA, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged , , , ,
33 Comments

ASK FATHER: Heretic priest

From a reader… QUAERITUR: My cousin’s parish priest said that there is no purgatory.  What say you? I say that, if he really thinks there is no Purgatory, then the priest is a heretic. I say that if he has … Read More

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Our Catholic Identity |
12 Comments

ASK FATHER: Is it a sin to contribute for a side altar at an SSPX chapel?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: Is making a sponsorship to an SSPX church a sin, if one doesn’t support being in Schism.  I have a deep love for Our Lady of Guadalupe for example and would like to support the side … Read More

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13 Comments

ASK FATHER: Can we pray to the Poor Souls in Purgatory to intercede for us?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: On a recent podcast a priest said that asking a specific person in Purgatory to pray for you/us is necromancy. Thoughts? My first reaction is that Father seems not to understand the difference between conjuring spirits … Read More

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11 Comments

ASK FATHER: Penance and abstinence on Friday, 6 January, Epiphany

From a reader… QUAERITUR: The feast of the Epiphany is a Friday this year. Our FSSP calendar has it marked as a day of abstinence, according to 1962 law, but my TLM planner from The Liturgical Year calendar family does … Read More

Posted in "But Father! But Father!", "How To..." - Practical Notes, 1983 CIC can. 915, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged ,
15 Comments

ASK FATHER: When can people begin to ask for Pope Benedict’s intercession?

This question comes from a comment under another post, but it stands on its own. From a reader… QUAERITUR: Father, quick question? I too believe that Benedict is a saint in heaven. Of course, when someone dies (including a pope), … Read More

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Benedict XVI, Saints: Stories & Symbols | Tagged
11 Comments

ASK FATHER: Friends returning to the Church say they can receive Communion without going to confession first

From a reader… QUAERITUR: After a number of years away from the faith of my childhood, I made the decision to return to the Catholic church.  After attending a few masses, my heart longed to receive the Eucharist, so I … Read More

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Fr. Z KUDOS, GO TO CONFESSION, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged , ,
8 Comments

ASK FATHER: “I absolve you from THESE sins…”. Valid?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: I went to confession and the words said by the priest for absolution were “I absolve you from these sins” etc. Would this absolution be valid? Thank you for going to confession.  KEEP GOING. This is … Read More

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5 Comments

ASK FATHER: Father says part of the consecration inaudibly and the rest audibly. Valid?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: Our parish priest speaks in a very distinct way. He chants the Novus Ordo from “For on the night he was betrayed he himself took bread, and giving you thanks he said the blessing, broke the … Read More

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3 Comments

ASK FATHER: Confession by checklist because of no common language

From a reader… QUAERITUR: Fr, I went to confession at a Catholic church in France that gets pilgrims from around the world. Because of the many languages of the penitents there was a checklist in the confessional with a wide variety of sins translated … Read More

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9 Comments

ASK FATHER: Did John the Baptist never sin?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: At Mass yesterday the priest said that St. John the Baptist never sinned his whole life due to the absolution he received from the Lord during the Visitation (‘ . . . and he leapt in … Read More

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6 Comments

ASK FATHER: Manual of life

From a reader… QUAERITUR: Would my Baltimore Catechism No 4 and the Sacred Liturgy be best as a layman as my manual for daily life? I ask because I’m wondering if I should carry both my Catechism and my 1962 … Read More

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Our Catholic Identity |
9 Comments

ASK FATHER: Father omits both “for all” and “for many” from the consecration of the Precious Blood. Wherein Fr. Z rants.

Yesterday I posted a response to a question about the validity of Mass if a priest says “for all” instead of “for many” in the English version of the Novus Ordo.  HERE That raised a question in the combox so … Read More

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Linking Back, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Save The Liturgy - Save The World, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged , , ,
12 Comments

ASK FATHER: Does “for all” instead of “for many” make the Mass invalid? Should I receive Communion if I doubt validity?

From a reader… QUAERITUR: My schedule required me to attend a lunchtime Novus Ordo near my office today.  The priest (I believe intentionally) modified the Eucharistic Prayer, employing the old “for all” translation of pro multis. As far as I … Read More

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Canon Law, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged , ,
6 Comments

ASK FATHER: Are there still “partial indulgences”? Notes on indulgences in general.

From a reader… QUAERITUR: My 1956 Saint Andrew Daily Missal, pages 1111 et seq., allows for partial indulgences, measured in days and years, upon various prayers; yet, current my Baronius Press missal does not. Two Questions: 1. Have partial indulgences … Read More

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