Category Archives: Seminarians and Seminaries

ASK FATHER: Priest refers to his role as “waiter” not “bouncer”.

From a reader… QUAERITUR: I heard a priest refer to his role as, “not the bouncer to the Eucharistic banquet but the server [as in waiter].”Most analogies fall flat, but this one hit a dissonant chord that I can’t quite … Read More →

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries | Tagged , , , ,
4 Comments

ASK FATHER: Do priests who celebrate only in the vernacular really know what they are saying?

From a reader…. QUAERITUR: I recently discovered the SCDF declaration Instauratio liturgica (Jan. 25, 1974), which says that the meaning of a translated sacramental formula is that of the original Latin, understood according to the mind of the Church. Especially … Read More →

Posted in Canon Law, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Latin, Mail from priests, Priests and Priesthood, Save The Liturgy - Save The World, Seminarians and Seminaries, The Drill, The future and our choices, WDTPRS | Tagged , , ,
14 Comments

ASK FATHER: A Transitional (to priesthood… not something else) Deacon asks about how to give people blessings

From a transitional deacon… QUAERITUR: I am a transitional deacon soon to be ordained a priest. As that day draws near, I realize that my seminary has taught me absolutely nothing about how to bless people and things. As I … Read More →

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Linking Back, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries | Tagged , ,
1 Comment

“The constant negativity directed to us priests by…” Wherein Fr. Z relates, reacts, reflects and rants.

At Catholic World Report, Fr. Peter Stravinskas offers a reflection on the way Francis seems constantly to denigrate and insult priests affects both morale and vocations. His observations coincide with my own.  One of things he said struck a strong … Read More →

Posted in Francis, GO TO CONFESSION, Mail from priests, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged , ,
14 Comments

ASK FATHER: Indulgence for kissing a new priest’s hands

From a reader… QUAERITUR: Is there really an indulgence for kissing the hands of a newly ordained priest?  I’ve heard different accounts.  And how long is “newly”? I have written about this before.   For example, HERE. There is no indulgence, … Read More →

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries | Tagged , , , ,
3 Comments

GOOD NEWS: “Key” available for Scanlon’s “Latin Grammar: Grammar Vocabularies, and Exercises in Preparation for the Reading of the Missal and Breviary”

There is some GOOD NEWS. It’s down below.  Meantime… I’ve been ranting for years about the need for clerics to know the language of their Latin Church, Roman Rite. In most cases that means that priests and seminarians have to … Read More →

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, ACTION ITEM!, Be The Maquis, Latin, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries, Si vis pacem para bellum!, The future and our choices | Tagged ,
6 Comments

ACTION ITEM! Seminarian in need of prayers

It is deeply troubling that the tactics of the 80’s and 90’s are being redeployed now. From a reader… In connection with your psyops article from just over two years ago, there is a seminarian in need of serious prayer. … Read More →

Posted in ACTION ITEM!, Seminarians and Seminaries |
3 Comments

Wherein Fr. Z reacts to a seminarian’s “cri de coeur”

I have written quite a few times here that – in this time of erosion and reversal in the Church – young priests and seminarians will increasingly be exposed to the sort of thing we older guys had to endure … Read More →

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, "How To..." - Practical Notes, Cri de Coeur, Hard-Identity Catholicism, New catholic Red Guards, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries, Si vis pacem para bellum!, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged , , ,
25 Comments

St. Robert Bellarmine on priests (Jesuits) who don’t learn to celebrate Mass and don’t follow the rubrics

From  a reader comes this apposite passage. Long-time reader here. Your recent posts (“rants”) about priests learning Latin and their Rite recalled to mind a passage I believe you will heartily enjoy from an excellent older biography of St. Robert … Read More →

Posted in Fr. Z KUDOS, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Jesuits, Latin, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries | Tagged , , ,
7 Comments

They just need to keep doing what they’re doing!

Someone once said something along the lines of, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” The Bitter Pill (aka The Tablet aka RU-486) has a story that 130 year old Wonersh Seminary in … Read More →

Posted in Cri de Coeur, Our Catholic Identity, Seminarians and Seminaries, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices | Tagged ,
9 Comments