STATIONS OF THE CROSS (PODCAzTs from Fr. Z)

Many parishes and chapels will have the Via Crucis or Stations of the Cross during Lent.

What version does your parish use?

I have audio projects with the Way of the Cross.

Here is a reading of the Via Crucis, the Way of the Cross, composed by Joseph Card. Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, for the 2005 Good Friday observance at the Colosseum in Rome.

Also, for your Lenten spiritual warfare, here are two versions the popular Via Crucis by St. Alphonsus Liguori. One version is plain, just my voice. The other is the same voice recording, but with the Gregorian chant Sequence Stabat Mater interlaced between the stations.

Posted in LENT, Our Catholic Identity, PODCAzT, PRAYERCAzT: What Does The (Latin) Prayer Really Sound L | Tagged ,
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Brick by Brick in Amsterdam

If it can be done in Amsterdam, it can be done anywhere.

NLM has a page with some photos of a recent Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form in Amsterdam.

Friends, don’t just sit and wish you could have one.  Sure, the resources may be thin where you are, but do what you can, brick by brick.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Brick by Brick, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM | Tagged ,
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WDTPRS Thursday in the 5th Week of Lent: Defending the Faith

Knight in Shining ArmorCOLLECT
Adesto, Domine, supplicibus tuis,
et spem suam in tua misericordia collocantes
tuere propitius,
ut, a peccatorum labe mundati,
in sancta conversatione permaneant,
et promissionis tuae perficiantur haeredes.

This prayer was not in a pre-Conciliar edition of the Missale Romanum, but a prayer from the Veronese Sacramentary in the month of September, a fast time, it was altered by the Cutters and Pasters, for the Novus Ordo. The Veronese has et consequentes sufficientiam temporalem promissionis tuae perficiantur heredes.

Tueor is one of those verbs with a zillion possibilities. The outstanding Lewis & Short indicates that it means, in the first place, “to see, to look or gaze upon, to watch, view” and hence it shifts in meaning to “to see or look to, to defend, protect”.

Permaneo, which is basically, “to stay to the end; to hold out, last, continue, endure, remain; to persist, persevere” is also, interestingly, “to abide in a way, rule, or mode of life, to live by, to devote one’s life to” as is attested to in the Vulgate.

Conversatio we have seen in an earlier Lenten entry.

SLAVISHLY LITERAL TRANSLATION
Be present, O Lord, to Your humble petitioners,
and graciously protect those placing their hope in Your mercy,
so that, cleansed from the stain of sins,
they may persevere to the end in holy manner of living
and as the heirs of Your promise be brought to perfection.

John Paul II at prayerEven in a bare bones metaphrase such as this, the power of the Latin prayer shows forth.

LAME-DUCK ICEL:
Lord, come to us:
free us from the stain of our sins.
Help us to remain faithful to a holy way of life,
and guide us to the inheritance you have promised
.

Perseverance it is key to this prayer.

We all have something given to us by God to accomplish in life.

We require both grace and elbow grease to persevere in our vocations. The Church herself has a mission to fulfill and she also must be faithful to her Spouse, Christ the Lord. The integrity of our vocations must be defended as well.

The Church, from time to time, must make firm, clear and bold statements of belief and also exercise internal discipline for the sake of fulfilling her God given vocation. At times she must defend the flock from error and disorder.

You might remember that in 1998 the late Pope John Paul II issued a Motu Proprio document called Ad tuendam fidem. By this instrument, the Church’s legislator inserted some canons into the Code of Canon Law for both the Latin and Eastern Churches. The laws aimed to defend the Faith from theological errors especially by those who teach.

We need clear doctrine, clear prayers, and clear willingness to adhere to them on the part of her duly appointed pastors.

The new, corrected translation of the Missale Romanum will be a contribution, not an obstacle.

NEW CORRECTED TRANSLATION:
Be near, O Lord, to those who plead before you,
and look kindly on those who place their hope in your mercy,
that, cleansed from the stain of their sins,
they may persevere in holy living
and be made full heirs of your promise
.

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“It is possible to fully understand the Mass.”…. NOT.

My friend Jeffrey Tucker over at the Chant Cafe has a great entry on music and matters liturgical… and you.

He provides bullet points which are each food for thought.

Here is how he begins:

What We Think We Know That Is Wrong

A director of music at a Catholic parish, obviously of long experience, sent me a list he has been keeping of things that people believe that are not so.

1. It is possible to fully understand the Mass.
1a. Having Mass entirely in the vernacular facilitates this complete comprehension.
1b. The more Latin we use, the less we can comprehend the Mass, unless we know Latin.

2. Mass is really about the words.

[…]

We can understand many things about Mass and that occur during Mass… but Mass is really an encounter with mystery.

Good work Mr. Tucker.

Check out his excellent post and say “Hi” from Fr. Z

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“ecclesiastical karaoke”

From CNA:

London, England, Apr 14, 2011 / 05:46 am (CNA).- A Grammy winning music director has delivered a stinging attack upon modern Church music.  Joseph Cullen, choral director at the London Symphony Orchestra, says that since the 1960s there has been a “glaring lack of sympathy” for “worthy sacred music.”

Writing in the April 9 edition of the English weekly The Tablet, [?!?] he praised the music used during last year’s papal visit to the United Kingdom. But he added: “Sadly such excellence is untypical of the vast majority of our Catholic churches. There is a glaring lack of sympathy for the heritage which should be the bedrock of worthy sacred music in today’s Church.”

[…]

He writes, “Low-quality material in both inspiration and facility is commonplace. Hymns are set to popular music (for example, “My God Loves Me” to the tune of “Plaisir d’amour”) with little regard to the inappropriateness of the original and well-known words.”

He also criticized the practice of a lone cantor leading the singing in parishes. “The misuse of one booming voice behind a microphone, an ecclesiastical karaoke, seems to have killed off unified congregational singing.”

[…]

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, The Drill | Tagged , ,
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WDTPRS Wednesday 5th Week of Lent: “a gracious hearing when they cry out to you”

COLLECT:
Sanctificata per paenitentiam
tuorum corda filiorum, Deus miserator, illustra,
et, quibus praestas devotionis affectum,
praebe supplicantibus pium benignus auditum.

The Redactors drew this from a prayer in the Gelasian on the Saturday (Feria VII, yes, 7th) of the Fifth Week of Lent: Sanctificata hoc ieuinium tuorum corda fidelium, deus miserator, inlustra et quibus deuotionis praestas affectum, praebe supplicantibus pium benignus auditum: per. We have seen constant substitution of the word ieiunium with other terms.  In the pre-Conciliar Missale Romanum this was a prayer for Wednesday in Passiontide.  In the Veronese this was in the month of September, for the fast of the seventh month: Sanctificata ieiunio tuorum corda filiorum, deus, habitator inlustra; et quibus prestas deuotionis affectum, praebe supplicantibus pium benignus auditum.

In Blaise/Dumas we get for this context “sentiment”.  The editor of Blaise, Dumas, in his notes on p. remarks, “ut… piae devotionis erudiamur affectu (or. m. «Dilexisti», Leon. 1186).  Here affectus is paired with devotio, itself a very hard word.  In many contexts, devotio does not simply transfer into devotion, but in this case it probably can.

SLAVISH RENDERING:
O God, merciful one, enlighten the hearts
of Your children sanctified by penance,
and graciously grant a compassionate hearing to supplicants
to whom you are giving the sentiment of fervent devotion.

LAME-DUCK ICEL:
Father of mercy,
hear the prayers of your repentant children
who call upon you in love.
Enlighten our minds and sanctify our hearts
.

NEW CORRECTED VERSION:
Enlighten, O God of compassion,
the hearts of your children, sanctified by penance,
and in your kindness
grant those you stir to a sense of devotion
a gracious hearing when they cry out to you
.

You decide.

Posted in WDTPRS |
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Office of Readings for Bl. John Paul II available

The Latin texts of the Office for Bl. John Paul II for the Liturgia Horarum are now posted on the Vatican website.

Latin

English

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“But… for Wales?”

This is fascinating.  NCFishwrap is urging support of one of their darlings, the Hon. Doug Kmiec, Attorney General for Wales…. er um… Ambassador to Malta.  You will remember that Amb. Kmiec argued that Catholics could vote for pro-abortion candidates.  Amb. Kmiec now receives his paycheck from Pres. Obama and Sec. Hillary Clinton.

Therefore the support from Fishwrap, which supports the merger of big government and big abortion.

Has Douglas Kmiec been muzzled?
by Joe Ferullo on Apr. 13, 2011

He was one of President Obama’s earliest supporters among the Catholic intellectual community [catholic] — but Douglas Kmiec now finds himself in a battle with Obama’s State Department. [awwww]

According to columnist Tim Rutten in The Los Angeles Times, Kmiec has been muzzled in his role as Ambassador to Malta. He’s done an impressive job by all accounts, [From all accounts?  Like this one?] strengthening ties with a strategically important and conservatively Cathoic [sic] country.

But the problem is, apparently, Kmiec’s faith — or at least his desire to “go public” about his faith.

Kmiec, a former dean of the Catholic University of America law school, argues that one key reason he was brought into the administration by Obama was so that he could continue his work promoting interfaith initiatives. But the diplomatic bureaucracy has its rules, yes it does — and has demanded Kmiec stop all “outside writings.”

According to Rutten, the State Department even heavily edited a memorial piece he wrote upon his father’s death for the Jesuit magazine America. [What a surprise!]

Obama worked long and hard during the 2008 campaign to show himself a friend of the faithful — and break the Democratic image of a party hostile to believers. [NB] Kmiec’s support was an important part of that push.

Obama now needs to step in, along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and support the man who has supported them. And there is a larger question at play here, too: does becoming a diplomat mean turning in your rights to free speech and religion?

Qui cum canibus concumbit, surgit cum pulicibus.

It has the markings of a tragedy, doesn’t it?

Don’t worry, Amb. Kmiec.   This isn’t Spain, this is… the Obama Administration!

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras, Linking Back, Our Catholic Identity, The future and our choices, Throwing a Nutty | Tagged , ,
26 Comments

Former Congressman Bart Stupak, stupaks again.

Remember the verb “to stupak”?

This is in from Catholic Vote:

His tears have turned to smiles with bigger paydays.

Formerly principled former Congressman Bart Stupak, being a “former” congressman, has decided to cash in.

Now he’s a partner with a lobbyist law firm that has as one of its clients Planned Parenthood of Maryland.

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras | Tagged ,
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Another reason for a govt. shut down and the Closing of National Parks

From Hugh Hewitt‘s blog.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at 8:40 AM

Because it ought all to be Yellowstone alarmism.  When this wakes up, and it will, the world will know climate change.  May it be another 100,000 years from now, but it could be much sooner.

Yellowstone

Posted in Global Killer Asteroid Questions | Tagged ,
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