In the Brick By Brick department:
Just today I came across an announcement which I believe would fit very well in the ‘ brick by brick’ category on your website. One of the seminaries in the Netherlands is going to offer a course in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, for priests and seminarians. This is the first seminary to do so in this country. Here is the link.
From a reader:
A real uplifting occasion in store this weekend in Oxford, England. The Oratory Catholic Church of St Aloysius, on Woodstock Road, is holding its Forty Hours Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, with the special intention for the Year for Priests.
Friday 13 November
6.00pm Solemn Mass of Exposition and start of Exposition.
12 midnight Compline followed by Benediction
Saturday 14 November12 midnight to 6am All night Vigil
5am – Matins and Lauds of the Blessed Sacrament
6am Mass
10am Mass
6.30pm Mass for Peace
11.45pm ComplineChurch closes at midnight
Sunday 15 November
8am Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form)
9.30am Parish Mass
11am Solemn Mass of The Sacred Heart
5pm Vespers, Procession, and Benediction to conclude the Forty HoursI can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend.
Taliban… bad.
Lord of the Flies has nothing on Osama.
Would women rather be dead than live this life?
Bleak doesn’t begin to describe Osama.
Desperate doesn’t begin to describe Osama.
Arresting images of women in pale blue birkas who had dared to protest running from the taliban.
Scruffy boy speaking to the camera. He is in the beginning like a hieratic Greek chorus.
Fear.
Limping children struggling in pillered walkways.
The plight of women under true oppression, their universal plight in time of war.
A mother says: "I wish God had not created women."
Her old mother corrects her saying men and women are equal. They work as hard. They are equally unfortunate.
A 12-year-old Afghan girl and her mother lose their jobs when the Taliban closes the hospital where they work. The Taliban have also forbidden women to leave their houses without a male "legal companion." With her husband and brother dead, killed in battle, there is no one left to support the family. Without being able to leave the house, the mother is left with nowhere to turn. Feeling that she has no other choice, she disguises her daughter as a boy. Now called ‘Osama,’ the girl embarks on a terrifying and confusing journey as she tries to keep the Taliban from finding out her true identity. Inspired by a true story, Osama is the first entirely Afghan film shot since the fall of the Taliban.
In despair they take the daughter cut her hair, put her in pants, make her a boy. They need a male family member who can escort a woman who goes to give health care to the sick for what ever money they can make. They talk about it while braiding her hair.
Like the Chinese King of Masks (much happier, being Chinese) or the Jewish Yenta (much happier being a musical) and also the Chinese Farewell My Concubine (much happier because… well… because…) with its scenes of forcing a choice this movie has its hideous scenario of death or life, to be a girl or be a false boy.
I was reminded of Vittorio di Sicca and Zhang Yimou who made films with non-actors. There is a starling reality to what they produce.
But bleak doesn’t begin to describe Osama. You keep looking for little rays of hope, but they elude you as quickly as you summon them.
The little girl buries her hair with a bit of pigtail sticking out like a sappling, later with the remains of an IV dripping on it. It is a harbinger of annihilation of hope.
The mother of the false boy wants an old war comrade running an apothacary, milk bar of sorts of her dead husband to hire the son who is a daughter. And so the horror begins.
Her identity can’t be hidden and you know it. And you get the sense that the mother knew it and the old woman knew it.
There are some striking moments of film making which clue you in to what is coming.
Little sounds of a scissor in advance before you see it cutting. Scrapping of a metal sittring implement on the bottom of a cauldron.
Distant and ever closer single shot gunfire.
Bare and dry… everything. The cutting of a green ripse watermellon as if it were a head to be devoured.
The prayer chant allah hu akbar during prayer.
The little actress remains obviously a girl which heightens the tension, because we know what the Talbian would do to the women in this scenario.
I was struck, on the intellectual level with a moment of change in the style of language with story telling.
The old woman, grandmother, has the other side of the story, the message that being a man is no picnic.
One wonders if Major Hassan had this in mind as he shot his victims, invoking the name of his god.
You may be aware that His Excellency Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, Bishop of Providence, has been openly correcting a very public errant member of his flock, pro-abortion Catholic Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI).
Here is a message from Bishop Tobin to Rep. Kennedy posted on Rhode Island Catholic with my emphases and comments:
Dear Congressman Kennedy
BY BISHOP THOMAS J. TOBIN
11/12/09
Dear Congressman Kennedy:“The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” (Congressman Patrick Kennedy)
Since our recent correspondence has been rather public, I hope you don’t mind if I share a few reflections about your practice of the faith in this public forum. I usually wouldn’t do that – that is speak about someone’s faith in a public setting – but in our well-documented exchange of letters about health care and abortion, it has emerged as an issue. I also share these words publicly with the thought that they might be instructive to other Catholics, including those in prominent positions of leadership. [Keep a couple things in mind in these public discussions of people’s "faith". Public Catholic figures who act in a very public way in a manner contrary to the teachings of the Church are committing scandal. Bishop have a responsibility and right to correct public acts of public figures. Moreover, some pro-abortion Catholic public figures will try to argue that their faith is important to them in private, but they say they cannot allow their faith to affect their public actions. Wrong.]
For the moment I’d like to set aside the discussion of health care reform, as important and relevant as it is, and focus on one statement contained in your letter of October 29, 2009, in which you write, “The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” [If this were a matter of trying to find a solution to, say, illiteracy or third-world debt, or even about many other social issues, sure. But this is about abortion.] That sentence certainly caught my attention and deserves a public response, lest it go unchallenged and lead others to believe it’s true. And it raises an important question: What does it mean to be a Catholic?
“The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” Well, in fact, Congressman, in a way it does. Although I wouldn’t choose those particular words, when someone rejects the teachings of the Church, especially on a grave matter, a life-and-death issue like abortion, it certainly does diminish their ecclesial communion, their unity with the Church. This principle is based on the Sacred Scripture and Tradition of the Church and is made more explicit in recent documents.
For example, the “Code of Canon Law” says, “Lay persons are bound by an obligation and possess the right to acquire a knowledge of Christian doctrine adapted to their capacity and condition so that they can live in accord with that doctrine.” (Canon 229, #1) [The key is "adapted to their capacity and condition so that they can live…live…". The Congressman is clearly smart enough to understand the teaching. He has a very public condition with an eye to the common good. He has been instructed more than once. There is no way he doesn’t know what the Church teaches.]
The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” says this: “Mindful of Christ’s words to his apostles, ‘He who hears you, hears me,’ the faithful receive with docility the teaching and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.” (#87)
Or consider this statement of the Church: “It would be a mistake to confuse the proper autonomy exercised by Catholics in political life with the claim of a principle that prescinds from the moral and social teaching of the Church.” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 2002) [Very clear. You can’t separate your faith as a strictly "private" matter.]
There’s lots of canonical and theological verbiage there, Congressman, but what it means is that if you don’t accept the teachings of the Church your communion with the Church is flawed, or in your own words, makes you “less of a Catholic.”
But let’s get down to a more practical question; let’s approach it this way: What does it mean, really, to be a Catholic? After all, being a Catholic has to mean something, right?
Well, in simple terms – and here I refer only to those more visible, structural elements of Church membership – being a Catholic means that you’re part of a faith community that possesses a clearly defined authority and doctrine, obligations and expectations. It means that you believe and accept the teachings of the Church, especially on essential matters of faith and morals; that you belong to a local Catholic community, a parish; that you attend Mass on Sundays and receive the sacraments regularly; that you support the Church, personally, publicly, spiritually and financially.
[Here it is:] Congressman, I’m not sure whether or not you fulfill the basic requirements of being a Catholic, so let me ask: Do you accept the teachings of the Church on essential matters of faith and morals, including our stance on abortion? Do you belong to a local Catholic community, a parish? Do you attend Mass on Sundays and receive the sacraments regularly? Do you support the Church, personally, publicly, spiritually and financially?
In your letter you say that you “embrace your faith.” Terrific. But if you don’t fulfill the basic requirements of membership, what is it exactly that makes you a Catholic? Your baptism as an infant? Your family ties? Your cultural heritage?
Your letter also says that your faith “acknowledges the existence of an imperfect humanity.” Absolutely true. But in confronting your rejection of the Church’s teaching, we’re not dealing just with “an imperfect humanity” – as we do when we wrestle with sins such as anger, pride, greed, impurity or dishonesty. We all struggle with those things, and often fail.
Your rejection of the Church’s teaching on abortion falls into a different category – it’s a deliberate and obstinate act of the will; a conscious decision that you’ve re-affirmed on many occasions. [Very clear.] Sorry, you can’t chalk it up to an “imperfect humanity.” Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the Church. [Do I hear an "Amen!"?]
Congressman Kennedy, I write these words not to embarrass you or to judge the state of your conscience or soul. That’s ultimately between you and God. But your [public] description of your relationship with the Church is now a matter of public record, and it needs to be challenged. I invite you, as your bishop and brother in Christ, to enter into a sincere process of discernment, conversion and repentance. It’s not too late for you to repair your relationship with the Church, redeem your public image, and emerge as an authentic “profile in courage,” [For younger readers, this is a reference to the book attributed to Pres. John F. Kennedy.] especially by defending the sanctity of human life for all people, including unborn children. And if I can ever be of assistance as you travel the road of faith, I would be honored and happy to do so.
Sincerely yours,
Thomas J. Tobin
Bishop of Providence
I have already said pretty much everything I intend to say about H1N1/Swine Flu and restrictions issued by dioceses.
However, this note seems to me to be – so far – the best approach from a diocese I have yet seen.
At yesterday’s OF Mass, Father read a memo from Bishop [Kevin] Boland [of Savanna, GA], our Ordinary, relating to preventative measures to be adopted throughout the Diocese effective 9 November 2009, and until further notice.
To safe guard against the spread of swine flu we will [a] no longer be including the Sign of Peace during Mass; [b] Parishioners should refrain from holding hands during the Our Father; [c] Communion will not be distributed by the Chalice; and [d] Priests should take care when distributing Communion to avoid touching the tongue or the hands of the communicant, so we should be prepared for a more deliberate and slower distribution.
When Father started to read the memo (sorry I have no copy to provide) [It really is best to send actual texts, folks. Click HERE for the pdf from the D. of Savanna.] I was cringing because I could have seen this go another way, so was delighted when it came out the way it did.
My son (aged 16) stopped to greet Father on the way out of Mass and said to him; “I don’t particularly care if it’s the threat of Bubonic Plague that causes it; but anything that makes us more Orthodox is a good thing.”
This does not attempt to restrict the right of people to receive Holy Communion on the tongue as guaranteed by Redemptionis Sacramentum.
Therefore, this set of guidelines, in my opinion, strikes the right balance between concern about contagion and both the rights of the faithful as well as risk of profanation of the Eucharist.
UPDATE:
The norms from the pdf on the website of the D. of Savanna (my emphases and comments):
Diocese of Savannah
Office of the BishopGuidelines for Parishes to Help Alleviate the Spread of the H1N1 Virus
1. Remind the parishioners that the obligation to attend Sunday Mass does
not hold if they have the symptoms of the flu. The more charitable thing to
do would be to stay at home.2. Distribution of Communion from the cup would be discontinued. Only the
celebrant would receive from the chalice.3. Request everyone to receive Communion in the hand. The priest and/or
minister should drop the host on the hand and avoid, if possible, touching
the hand.4. Those who insist [I think a prejudice is revealed in this word. Nevertheless, it is a request. The diocese is not restricting rights, even though the language seems prejudicial.] on receiving on the tongue should be requested to go to
the end of the line. [Okay… but the let’s eliminate row by row Communion, too!] Communion on the tongue can be difficult for the
minister in attempting to avoid contact with saliva. [Only ht the communicant insists on doing something problematic, such as presenting a moving target. Using slightly larger communion hosts can help also.]5. The handshake of peace would be discontinued. The best way to
implement this is not to offer “the sign of peace” which is an optional part
of the ritual. [Do I hear an "Amen!"?]6. Priests, Deacons and Communion Ministers should wash their hands with
alcohol-based sanitizer both before and after the distribution of
Communion.Allegedly the H1N1 virus remains alive up to eight hours on surfaces. One
church implemented the practice of having the parishioners wipe down the
leaning edges of the pews as they left Mass in preparation for the next group of
parishioners. This is certainly an optional procedure. [Good idea!]
I had as usual a good time in NYC despite the unfortunate victory of a team to remain nameless.
Until next time, thanks to all the great folks I met on this trip.
UPDATE:
Minneapolis and St Paul, my hometown.
I picked up from the young Papist that Cecile Richards – President of Planned Parenthood, the eugenics inspired organization originally intended to kill off black people – said in pages of Hell’s Bible that the US bishops are ideologues because they voiced their concern about federal funding of abortion.
Here is part of the article in Hell’s Bible (aka The New York Times):
Beginning in late July, the bishops began issuing a series of increasingly stern letters to lawmakers making clear that they saw the abortion-financing issue as pre-eminent, a deal-breaker.
At the funeral of Senator Edward M. Kennedy in August, Cardinal Seán O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, stole a private moment with Mr. Obama to deliver the same warning: The bishops very much wanted to support his health care overhaul but not if it provided for abortions. The president “listened intently,” the cardinal reported on his blog. [I wonder if the President understands that something very hard to control is waking up?]
Bishops implored their priests and parishioners to call lawmakers. Conservative Democrats negotiating over the issue with party leaders often expressed their desire to meet the bishops’ criteria, according to many people involved in the talks. On Oct. 8 three members of the bishops conference wrote on its behalf to lawmakers, “If the final legislation does not meet our principles, we will have no choice but to oppose the bill.”
On Sunday, some abortion rights advocates lashed out at the bishops. “It was an unconscionable power play,” ["power play"? What a dopey thing to call it.] said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, accusing the bishops of “interceding to put their own ideology in the national health care plan.”
She is an ideologue who wants federal funding of abortions. She earn her living from abortions. No? Isn’t President of Planned Parenthood a paid position? The abortions the more they earn, right?
Did you know that Cecile Richards used to be Catholic Speaker Nancy "pro-abortion" Pelosi’s, deputy chief of staff?
It has been over two years since Summorum Pontificum went into effect.
That is more than enough time for seminaries to get with the program and start providing both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Form.
In the Brick by Brick department, this comes from our attentive friends at Rorate who are all over this great news from the Netherlands:
Dutch seminary to offer a course on the TLM
The website of the St. Willibrord seminary in the Tiltenberg, the Netherlands has announced that it is establishing a course for priests and seminarians on how to offer the Traditional Latin Mass. St. Willibrord’s is the major seminary of the Diocese of Haarlem.The following is a translation of the announcement on the seminary website. Emphases mine. (H/t to There was a boy):
On 7 July 2007, Pope Benedict XVI published the Apostolic letter "Summorum Pontificum". In it the pope decides that the Roman Missal of Pope Saint Pius V, which was rereleased in 1962 by Blessed John XXIII, would now be the extraordinary expression of the same "legis orandi" of the Church and would be kept in suitable regard because of its respectable and ancient use (art. 1). The Saint Willibrord seminary at the Tiltenberg will therefore organise a course for priests and seminarians to learn this rite, to be announced on the day of continued formation for young priests on Monday 2 November.In his motu proprio, Pope Benedict XVI emphasises that liturgy is an expression of faith, so that liturgy and prayer define faith (lex orandi, lex credendi). This is why the Church asks that liturgical texts, such as prayers and also the acclamations, be authorised by Church authorities, and why the Second Vatican Council emphasised that no one can change, remove or add liturgical texts on their own authority (Sacrosanctum Concilium 22, par. 3). The importance of this decision becomes immediately clear when one considers the close bond between the faith of the Church and its expression in the liturgy.
In the education of priests and deacons special attention is paid to students becoming thoroughly acquainted with the liturgical books and the practice of the several priestly and diaconal liturgical duties, including in the first place Holy Mass, but also the other Sacraments, Adoration, Vespers, blessings, funerals and so on. The appointments which are received in the course of their education, chiefly that of acolyte, must also be practised. The seminarians will receive this practice from the priest who is responsible for this in the seminary: drs. F.J. Bunschoten. In this, he’ll be assisted by Deacon J. Versteeg, who will be mostly working with the candidates for the permanent diaconate. The seminary’s MC, Rudy Kinds, will assist him in this. The priest has been mastering the Tridentine rite and gained the required knowledge and abilities to practice this rite with other priests and the candidates for Holy Orders.
For more on the seminary of St. Willibrord, please read this.Some videos of the cantores of this seminary singing Gregorian chant are available on Youtube.
This leads me to wonder….
I want to ask seminarians out there to send me an e-mail about what is going on in this regard in their seminaries. Tell me about availability of Extraordinary Form Masses and training for same at your seminary. Tell me about the use of Latin in the Ordinary Form as well. Seminarians: be brief, and write what you write in such a way that I don’t have to "anonymize" it too much. I would like to name your seminary, but I of course will not identify you.
It has been over two years since Summorum Pontificum went into effect.
That is more than enough time for seminaries to get with the program and start providing both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Form.
More than enough time.
If they are providing seminarians with training by now… there must be some problem.
More than enough time.
More than enough time.
An alert reader sent me a note about an article in the WSJ which included this statement:
"House Democrats said concern among antiabortion Democrats that the bill would allow taxpayer-funded abortions had been a major sticking point. Talks continued late into Friday evening between House leaders and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in an effort to craft language that would satisfy all sides. Antiabortion Democrats have made it clear that the conference’s support is essential for their vote. The impasse was apparently cleared after abortion opponents were promised an opportunity to insert tougher restrictions into the legislation during debate on the House floor."
Do you think that the statements and initiatives of the USCCB were too little or too late? They would be if you don’t also act on that, as the bishops requested. House Dems and others are listening.
From the WSJ article:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) sat down with representatives from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to try to broker a solution. The bishops urged antiabortion Democrats to hold their ground and said they would oppose the House bill "until this fundamental flaw is remedied."
None of us actually believe that pro-abortion Catholic Speaker Pelosi (still inexplicably allowed by her bishop and the local bishop where she works to receive Holy Communion – anybody… please explain that…) cares in the least what the USCCB says or that any of the arguments from reps of the USCCB will cause her to change her mind.
Despite the obstinate attitude of pro-abortion Catholics such as pro-abortion Catholic Nancy Pelosi and many other pro-abortion Catholics in Congress, people are listening to the Catholic Bishops.
Consider as well how many hospital beds are controlled by Catholics institutions.
It occurs to me that if the Catholic institutions which provided hospitals were to shut them down in the face of morally unacceptable scenarios, the health care debate in the USA would take on a whole new urgency.
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
Senor Quixana on Pagliarani and Leo at Tanagra: “I suspect that most of this could be resolved in an afternoon if, instead of asking for an audience, Pagliarani…”
on Pagliarani and Leo at Tanagra: “My hope would be after such prayer that he would be open to cooperation with divine grace so that “the…”
on Pagliarani and Leo at Tanagra: “@Lurker 59 To support your position, I don’t have any hope that my bishop will allow the confirmation of my…”
on Pagliarani and Leo at Tanagra: “Doing such requires hope, even a fool’s hope. The reason you don’t see a common place of individuals taking the…”
on ROME 26/5– Day 52: lace imitates God’s beauty enlaced in flowers: “The soup looks delicious! Where can I find your Daily Mass stream?”
on ROME 26/5– Day 54 & 55: double: “1. . . . . . . N-g3+ Forcing: 2. K×h2 . N-f1++ (King must move) If: 3. K-h3 .…”
on Pagliarani and Leo at Tanagra: “haydn seeker, the Church’s job is to prescribe a “minimal” set of beliefs we can sign up to and agree…”
on Pagliarani and Leo at Tanagra: “The pope should grant him an audience while wearing the full regalia (including tiara). That’d solve it, I reckon.”
A Daily Prayer for Priests
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