LEPANTO INSTITUTE: National Catholic Reporter MUST be Banned by US Bishops

Posted on 7 January 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At Lepanto Institute there is a call to the US bishops to “ban” the National Schismatic Reporter (aka Fishwrap).  In the post there a good summary of the sort of dreck that flows from that open pipe.  They make a good case.

I’ve have called on the bishops again and again to strip the Fishwrap (aka National Sodomitical Reporter) of the use of the word “Catholic” in their (official) title.

And there is this prayer, as well.  Let them convert, please God, or let them fail and close their shop of horrors forever.

Prayer for the Conversion or Downfall of the National catholic Reporter

Dest-joseph-patron-of-the-churchar St. Joseph, Terror of Demons and Protector of Holy Church, Chaste Guardian of Our Lord and His Mother, hear our urgent prayer and swiftly intercede with our Savior, whom as a loving father you defended so diligently, that He will pour abundant graces upon the staff of that organ of dissent the National catholic Reporter so that they will either embrace orthodox doctrine concerning faith and morals or that all their efforts will promptly fail and come to their just end. Amen.

 

Posted in Our Catholic Identity, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices | Tagged , ,
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VIDEO: A CALL TO BATTLE: ‘Society’s Crisis in Masculinity’

Posted on 7 January 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The Diocese of Phoenix, under the oversight of impressive Bishop Thomas Olmsted, has issued a 10 minute video.

A Call to Battle – A Short Film on ‘Society’s Crisis in Masculinity’


4975 views at the time of this posting.

Last September he published a letter about the same urgent topic. HERE

Fr. Z kudos.

“Into the breach!”

See the website. HERE

And this wouldn’t be Fr. Z’s Blog without a call to revitalization of a virile, transcendent liturgical worship, and another hectoring push for you to …

GO TO CONFESSION.

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Your Real Epiphany Sermon Notes

Posted on 7 January 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Last night, 6 January, we celebrated real Epiphany with a Solemn Mass.  At the beginning we blessed chalk.  Alas, there was no myrrh, though there was plenty of frankincense.  Our Deacon, Fr. Schroeder, sang the Noveritis.

16_01_06_Epiphany_01

Were you able to go to Mass on real Epiphany?  After all, real Epiphany is on Twelfth Night.  It is a fixed date: 6 January.

Was there a good point made in the sermon you heard?

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Fr. Z’s Predictions for 2016

Posted on 6 January 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Just as the Magi were late to the game, so too am I.

Fr. Z’s Predictions for 2016

1. Francis will still be Pope.
2. Pres. Obama will continue to trample on the US Constitution.
3. The Holy Year of Mercy will be under-observed.
4. Applications to seminaries will drop.
5. Donald Trump will be the GOP nominee.
6. Controversy will continue to surround the Synod of Bishops when priesthood is discussed.
7. Curial reform will not make significant progress.
8. The number of places in which Extraordinary Form (TLM) Masses are offered will continue to grow.
9. Former-Father Greg Reynolds will still be excommunicated.
10. Fr. Z will still not be a Monsignor.

How did I do last year?

Fr. Z’s Predictions for 2015

1. The Synod of Bishops on the Family will be rigged and explosive. [+1]
2. The “AFFORDABLE” Care Act will continue to flop and to be unpopular. [+1]
3. The number of places in which Extraordinary Form (TLM) Masses are offered will continue to grow. [+1]
4. Pope Francis will be welcomed in these USA with hysterical enthusiasm. [+1]
5. Curial Reform will continue to meet significant resistance. [+1]
6. Pope Francis will release his next encyclical at the United Nations. [-1]
7. There will be more cyber-attacks on corporations and government entities. [+1]
8. Mass attendance will continue to decline. [+1]
9. Former-Father Greg Reynolds will still be excommunicated. [+1]
10. Fr. Z will still not be a Monsignor. [+1]

Pretty well!

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Prayer request

Posted on 6 January 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I’ve come down with a nasty bug.  Prayers, please.

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Solemn Mass for Benefactors on 6 Jan – Epiphany

Posted on 6 January 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Thanks from the bottom of my beady-black heart to all of you who over the last weeks have sent donations through Christmas cards, or who have made ad hoc online donations, or who have subscribed to monthly, automatic contributions.  Also, thanks to anyone who sent items through Amazon.  Thanks and thanks again.

I keep a list of your names and, periodically, say Mass for my Benefactors.  I did so recently, but I will also do so again – Mass for the intention of my Benefactors – tomorrow evening, 6 January, Epiphany – Solemn Mass – 6 PM St. Mary’s Pine Bluff.

By the way, some days of the month – for the monthly subscription – are a bit “lean”.  Today, the 5th, is one of them (5), and so is the 6th (4).  I hope that if you use this blog regularly, you will subscribe.

Some options

NEW SUBSCRIBERS:

ML, SK, Fr MF, TB, DMcC, FW, GG, NS, JDiS

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Vigil of Epiphany: Special Blessing of Water

Posted on 6 January 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Wonderful customs come with the Feast of the Epiphany.  Epiphany is 6 January, by the way.

On Epiphany we can bless gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Bring all your spare, unblessed myrrh to your priest… and gold.  Bring lots of spare gold to your priest, or to me if your priest isn’t around.  We use, by the way, pure frankincense in our censer.  We have plenty of frankincense, so you don’t have to bring any of that.

On Epiphany there is a blessing for homes.  There is also the famous blessing of chalk which can be used then to mark the lintel of the house.

On the Vigil of Epiphany there is a special blessing for Epiphany Water.  Here is a photo from a couple years ago, of yours truly blessing Epiphany Water.

I should be blessing a lot more tomorrow, as it turns out.

The Rite is very cool.  It begins with the Litany of Saints, with a couple special petitions about the blessing of the water to follow. Satan and the demons are then driven from the place with a mighty prayer.

This is NOT a prayer for lay people to recite. Period. Understand? Just don’t.

Exorcism against Satan and the apostate angels [In Latin, of course. The “+” is where the celebrant makes the Sign of the Cross.]

In the name of our Lord Jesus + Christ and by His power, we cast you out, every unclean spirit, every devilish power, every assault of the infernal adversary, every legion, every diabolical group and sect; begone and stay far from the Church of God, from all who are made in the image of God and redeemed by the precious blood of the divine + Lamb. Never again dare, you cunning serpent, to deceive the human race, to persecute the Church of God, nor to strike the chosen of God and to sift them as + wheat. For it is the Most High God who commands you, + He to whom you heretofore in your great pride considered yourself equal; He who desires that all men might be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. God the Father + commands you. God the Son + commands you. God the Holy + Spirit commands you. The majesty of Christ, the eternal Word of God made flesh + commands you; He who for the salvation of our race, the race that was lost through your envy, humbled Himself and became obedient even unto death; He who built His Church upon a solid rock, and proclaimed that the gates of hell should never prevail against her, and that He would remain with her all days, even to the end of the world. The sacred mystery of the cross + commands you, as well as the power of all the mysteries of Christian faith. The exalted Virgin Mary, Mother of God + commands you, who in her lowliness crushed your proud head from the first moment of her Immaculate Conception. The faith of the holy apostles Peter and Paul and the other apostles + commands you. The blood of the martyrs and the devout intercession of all holy men and women commands you.

Therefore, accursed dragon and every diabolical legion, we adjure you by the living + God, by the true + God, by the holy + God, by the God who so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have life everlasting; cease your deception of the human race and your giving them to drink of the poison of everlasting damnation; desist from harming the Church and fettering her freedom. Begone Satan, you father and teacher of lies and enemy of mankind. Give place to Christ in whom you found none of your works; give place to the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church, which Christ Himself purchased with His blood. May you be brought low under God’s mighty hand. May you tremble and flee as we call upon the holy and awesome name of Jesus, before whom hell quakes, and to whom the virtues, powers, and dominations are subject; whom the cherubim and seraphim praise with unwearied voices, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts!

The salt and water are exorcised, blessed, blended.

At the end of the rite the Te Deum is sung.  Spiffy.

Epiphany and its Vigil.  Very ancient and very cool feast.

Posted in Hard-Identity Catholicism, Just Too Cool, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, What Fr. Z is up to | Tagged ,
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Of Protestantization, Flops and the Management of Expectations

Posted on 5 January 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Everyone should rush to read what Andrea Gagliarducci contributed in his latest Monday Vatican offering. HERE  Using as a springboard a new book in Italian on Luther by Angela Pellicciari, (not in English yet – Amazon USA HERE UK HERE – ITALY HERE) Andrea writes about Martin Luther, Protestantism, and the ongoing corrosion of the Catholic Church through Protestantization.

A sample:

The push for subjectivity was one of Martin Luther’s arguments in his anti-Roman preaching. Angela Pellicciari writes: “With the elimination of the function of the magisterium, the denial of the priestly order, the exaltation of individual freedom and the rejection of the importance of works to achieve salvation, everyone makes his own decisions. Everyone reads the Bible and interprets it his own way, trusting in the Holy Spirit’s assistance.”

In the end, the risk of the institutionalization of “case by case discernment” is to arrive at the “by Scripture only” (sola fide) notion that Martin Luther promoted. The priest who discerns on a case by case basis puts aside the function of the magisterium and founds his activity on his personal interpretation of the Scriptures. He wields enormous discretionary power, but it is much more a human power than one derived from God.

In his encyclical Spe Salvi, Benedict XVI asks: “How could the idea have developed that Jesus’ message is narrowly individualistic and aimed only at each person singly? How did we arrive at this interpretation of the “salvation of the soul” as a flight from responsibility for the whole, and how did we come to conceive the Christian project as a selfish search for salvation which rejects the idea of serving others?”

Angela Pellicciari responds: “It did so because Luther has misinterpreted as slavery to Rome the universal charism of Peter and his function in defense of the whole Church. As a consequence, “the body has been abandoned”, it seems “in favor of souls, that is, of the most interior part of each of us, which corresponds to our conscience. It is as if soul and body are set one against the other, and each of them goes on its own. As if obedience to conscience is a substitute to obedience to Peter.”

These are still the main themes of our times. Unchaining the faithful from the authority of the Church, Luther gave to princes, the secular power, a fundamental role. He even claimed the authority of the secular power against the Pope, if the Pope makes mistakes. But the Pope’s authority, his sovereignty, is justified by the need for independence from secular power. Only this way – St. Leo the Great explained – can the Church be credible and really free.

Over at Fishwrap (aka National Schismatic Reporter), Robert Mickens reacts with panic to Gagliarducci and Pelliciari and, to boot, reports of the ever smaller crowds turning up in Rome for Pope Francis’ events.  Mickens is befuddled that anyone in these days of post-Conciliar enlightenment should ever express concerns about the Protestantization of which Gagliarducci and Pellicciari wrote.

fishwrapWhat I found especially amusing was Mickens’ efforts to manage expectations about the success of the Year of Mercy, at least in terms of the falling number of pilgrims.  For example (my emphases and comments):

Pope Francis’ “revolution” is well underway and gaining momentum. Even if many millions of pilgrims do not come to Rome during the Holy Year, this phenomenon cannot be slowed down.

In fact, the pope does not want huge crowds of people to come to Rome for the jubilee. [So, if they come, they’ll claim it was a big success.  But if they don’t come, they’ll claim it was a big success.] He wants them to celebrate the yearlong event in their home dioceses, by being the first pope ever to encourage every diocesan cathedral around the world to have its own holy door. And not just the cathedrals, but also all significant shrines and even chapels in every prison. [If every door is a holy door, then no door is a Holy Door.  Let’s just desacralize the whole thing and call it something else.]

So any jubilee flop will be of small consequence, even if supplies a bit of schadenfreude to those who have been lukewarm and even opposed to the way this pontificate has unfolded.  [It seems to me that Catholics want every pontificate to be success.  That said, neither should we candy-coat everything.]

Mickens is eager to defend everything about Pope Francis, even that which might turn out to be a “flop” (his word).  He wasn’t so eager to take up the pen in defense of Pope Benedict’s efforts… or even his person.  You will recall the infamous Facebook exchange that resulted in Mickens sacking by the ultra-liberal Tablet.  HERE

Anyway… here’s another sample from Gagliarducci:

While everyone is pushing for a “more human Church”, a “more divine Church” is what is needed, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger once observed. This is the issue. The subtle enemy that is Protestantization is always current, and it is perhaps the hidden enemy that the Church must fight above all others.

Take a few minutes to read his whole column at Monday Vatican.

Moderation queue is ON.

Posted in Benedict XVI, Francis | Tagged , , , ,
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ACTION ITEM: Christmas Cards 2015 – UPDATE

Posted on 5 January 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

UFrom Christmas 2014

UPDATE:

Don’t send any snail mail to the address I posted for Christmas Cards, etc.  It is defunct.

UPDATE 5 January 2016:

The Christmas Cards for 2015 are still trickling in.  Here is the latest update.

Port Washington, OH
Guilford, CT
Fort Collins, CO
Fredericksburg, VA
Vero Beach, FL
Catskill, NY
Berkeley, CA
Rosario, Philippines
Madison, WI
Plano, TX
Austin, TX – $
Crete, IL
Cambria, CA
La Mesa, CA
Mumbai, India
Dushore, PA
Tyngsboro, MA
Needham, MA
Humbley, TX
Bottesford, England – £
Woonsocket, RI
Uniontown, PA – $
Eltopia, WA
Spokane, WA – $
Forest Hills, NY
GP Farms, MI
Kenai, AK
Amandola, Italy
Witchita, KS – $
Newton, MA – $
Rutland, VT
Holyoke, MA – $
St. Louis, MO – $
Thaxton, VA
Wyle, TX
Dallas, TX
Hutchison, MN – $
G.D. Luxembourg
Clifton Park, NY
Oklahoma City, OK
Uniontown, PA
Harrisburg, PA – $

UPDATE 27 December:

Faribault, MN
Bloomfield, MS
Cuyahoga Falls, OH – $
Raleigh, NC – Goldfinch reference!
Kenai, AK
Santa Rosa, CA
Clemens, MI – x2
Atlantis, FL
Henderson, NV

UPDATE 24 December:

Worcester, MA – hat! -$
Bedford, TX
Dundee, MI
Traverse City, MI
Cudahy, WI – groovy stamps
Des Moines, IA
Sweden – somewhere
Brighton & Hove? England
Vadnais Heights, MN
Somerville, MA
La Grange, IL
Finland – somewhere
Loudonville, NY
Grand Rapids, MI
Waldport, OR – whew
Santa Rosa, CA
Richland, IA
Gladstone, OR
Madison, WI
Arcola, IL
Wilmington, NY

UPDATE 23 December

The cards have been pouring in.

From…

Washington DC
Holland, MI
Colonie, NY
Pittsburgh, PA
Ireland (somewhere)
Vero Beach, FL
The NRA HQ!
Winnipeg, MB – $
Voorhees, NJ
Shelton, CT
Ventura, CA
Mankato, MN
South Jordan, UT – prayers!
Mesa, AZ
Lumberton, TX
Glasgow, Scotland
Carlsbad, NM – $
Madison, MS
Sheffield, England
Minneapolis, MN
Tornillo, TX
Grove City, MN – $
Grants Pass, OR
Orlando, FL
Saline, MI
Toronto, ON
Manchester, NH
Tisdale, SK
Lafayette, CA
Hamburg, NY – $
East Lynne, CT – gift card
Dallas, TX
Plymouth, MI -$
Cohoes, NY
Charlottesville, VA
Dennison, MN
Lewiston, ME
Austin, TX
Brooklyn, WI -$
Columbia, PA -$
River Ridge, LA
McLean, VA – $!
Seattle, WA
Chula Vista, CA
San Francisco, CA
Pembroke Pines, FL
Palm ?Beach Gardens, FL -$
Tampa, FL -$
Teaticket, MA
Raliegh, NC -$
Cranberry Twp, PA – $
Berkey, OH -$ – prayer!
Gilbert, AZ
Peosta, IA
New Albany, IN
Parrish, FL
Covington, GA
York, PA
Bridgewater, MA
Goodrich, MI – $
Newton Hlds, MA (x2?)
Ferndale, MI
Boise, ID
Port Perry, ON -$
Cincinnati, OH
Spokane Valley, WA
Fresno, CA
New Ulm, MN
Burke, VA
Winogski, VT
Shawnee, OK -$
Pasadena, A
Canada – somewhere
Covina, CA
Ormond Beach, FL -$
Knoxville, TN
San Antonio, TX
Youngstown, OH – $
Glasgow, Scotland
Portsmouth, England
Lyon, France
McKinney, TX
Denver, CO
Pasadena, MA
Alcoa, TN -$
Manassas, VA
Natrona Heights, PA
UK? “Plymouth Rd”
New Zealand – Somewhere
Pascagoula, MS

Some interesting samples…

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I could show a lot more.  Many cards come with letters and personal notes.  Many come with requests for prayers.

Thanks for sending, everyone.

____

Last year I posted about Christmas cards on 22 December, which was late, especially for some readers in some parts of the world.  I’m a bit more pro-active this year.  Bales of cards arrived last time around, some as late as February.  HERE Sometimes I look at the blog’s stats and I see, coming and going, people from all over the world.  Hopefully you will take a moment or two to send a card.

IN NO SPECIAL ORDER SO FAR… (my apologies if you don’t see your town – I inadvertently tossed a few of the first envelopes before I recorded them):

Irving, TX
E. Peoria, IL
Menomonee Falls, WI
Middleton, WI
Schenectady, NY
Newton Highlands, MA
Dayton, OH – $
Santa Fe, NM
Tavares, FL
Seattle, WA – $

Some of your cards have checks (that’s cheques in some places).   Thanks!  I’ll record your names for the next time I say Mass for my benefactors.

Some of your cards have your “form letter” for friends and family.  They make interesting reading.  I am interested in who you are.  Some of these letters are rather poignant, for they also convey news of suffering and of challenges, though they invariably also end on high notes of hope and expressions of faith.   For example, one person wrote: “Together, our reaching out for hope saves the world from despair.”

Some of your cards have hand written notes.  One of them wrote of how my PODCAzTs had been helpful in bringing her back to her Catholic Faith.  That makes my day.

A few of your cards.


I am not impressed by email Christmas greetings.   If someone wants to send me Christmas greetings, please send a card by snail mail, with really cool stamps, if possible. I’ll preserve the stamps and give them to a collector, maybe a homeschool group. One readers took my note about stamps seriously.

 

 

As I wrote last year, I enjoy all those sixes.  I wish there were only three, just to provoke the imaginations of some of my … fans.

From Christmas 2014

I have a USP Store address because, in this holiday stretch especially, the mail delivery where I live, at the chancery, is non-existent on weekends and it may be in flux because of the way the whole place is being restructured. Moreover, they can sign for anything that needs a signature (for example, gold bars, ammo, a Bugatti Chiron, bearer bonds, multiple cases of Pappy Van Winkle, you know, the usual stuff).  In addition, they can call the FBI equally well as the folks where I live.

Please: DON’T SEND PERISHABLE FOOD ITEMS.  I am sure they would be wonderful, and not poisonous, mostly.  But, please, just don’t.

On another note, …

Click

There is an album of Advent music available from the wonderful Benedictine Nuns in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Here are a few little samples.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

There are zillions of Christmas music offerings out there.  Advent?  Not so much.

This disk can help you keep Advent as Advent.

The UK link is HERE.

And they have wonderful Christmas music, too.  Think about stocking stuffers. Sacred music CDs… Mystic Monk Coffee (go to their Sampler Page to see lots of packets of coffee, just 2 oz. each, four different 9 pack sample options and one 30 pack.) They also have Teas. Also, you are going to need lots of coffee for your own entertaining.  5 lbs bags They also have Teas. And there is Z-Swag.

Order now.  Get it in time.  

And use the Amazon search box on the sidebar, please.

PS: I have also located and dusted off my Tactical Christmas Stocking.

 

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An Epiphany Prayer to the Magi for the Sophisticated

Posted on 5 January 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Click!

Evelyn Waugh wrote a terrific little book, Helena.  It is about the mother of the Emperor Constantine.  US HERE – UK HERE

In our book, St. Helena, discoverer of the True Cross, prays to the Holy Magi.

This is a prayer by and for people who are talented, intellectuals, artists, who because of their intellectual gifts find it difficult to arrive at the same faith of simple people.

The prayer has two messages.

First, simple folk need far less ratiocination (e.g., exegesis, syllogisms, disputations, etc.) than those who are more gifted in order to adore the Baby in the manger.  They come to the side of the Lord so much more quickly, willingly, with less hesitation.

Second, there is nevertheless hope for intellectuals, scientists, artist, who, in spite of the difficulties their intellects pose to the Faith, can arrive late at the manger and still by welcomed with open arms by the Holy Family.

This is my day, and these are my kind.

“Like me, you were late in coming. The shepherds were here long before, even the cattle. They had joined the chorus of angels before you were on your way.

How laboriously you came, taking sights and calculating, where the shepherds had run barefoot! How odd you looked on the road, attended by what outlandish liveries, laden with such preposterous gifts!

You finally came to the last stage of your pilgrimage and the great star stood still above you. What did you do? You stopped to call on King Herod. Deadly exchange of compliments in which began that unended war of mobs and magistrates against the innocent!

Yet you came and were not turned away. You too found room before the manger. Your gifts were not needed, but they were accepted and put carefully by, for they were brought with love. In that new order of charity that had just come to life, there was room for you, too. You were not lower in the eyes of the holy family than the ox or the ass.

You are my especial patrons, and patrons of all late-comers, of all who have a tedious journey to make to the truth, of all who are confused with knowledge and speculation, of all who through politeness make themselves partners in guilt, of all who stand in danger by reason of their talents.

Dear cousins, pray for me, and for my poor overloaded son. May he, too, before the end find kneeling space in the straw. Pray for the great, lest they perish utterly.

For His sake who did not reject your curious gifts, pray always for the learned, the oblique, the delicate. Let them not be quite forgotten at the Throne of God when the simple come into their kingdom.”

 

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