QUAERITUR: antique chalices

Posted on 30 September 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

A classmate of mine is about to be ordained to the priesthood.  I’m trying to find an antique chalice for him.  Do you know any merchants who sell antique chalices?

Anyone?

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box |
8 Comments

QUAERITUR: cleaning up an old thurible and giving it to parish as incentive

Posted on 30 September 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

First let me say I am a long time reader of your blog. Thank you for all that you do.

A few years ago I found a brass censer on eBay which I bought. The exterior is quite tarnished, and the interior is a bit corroded with the copper plating missing in some places. There’s a small ding at the base.

Nonetheless, I floated the idea of attempting to restore it and let my children present it to out priest as a gift to celebrate the Year of the Priest. I started polishing it up, and dang it if it doesn’t look pretty sharp. He does not currently use a censer; but if he has an inkling in his heart to do so, perhaps this would be a little encouragement.

Do you know of any reason why this would not be an appropriate gift? Would it be acceptable even if it is clear that the item is not new (I won’t even attempt to remove the small ding, fearing I’d only damage it further)?

Do you have any thoughts on this sort of gift? Are you aware of any considerations I should keep in mind when continuing?

First, it is good that some of this old stuff is being rescued and cleaned up and … hopefully… used.

A lot of that ecclesiastical hardware is is pretty expensive new.

Also, I can’t see why it would not be a good gift to some parish where the priest is trying to get things going again.

Something like this might be a source of encouragement.

I would also present it along with some incense and some charcoal, so that it is easy to start using it right away.

 

I suspect most people would like to have more solemn liturgy on occasion, and the use of incense can go a long way in making it so.

 

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box |
5 Comments

Pontifical Spider

Posted on 30 September 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There are famous photos of Pope Pius XII and his canary.

Now for the pontifical spider.

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Posted in Lighter fare | Tagged , ,
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REVIEW – Movie recommendation: Bright Star

Posted on 28 September 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I went with several friends tonight to see a movie.

Bright Star

This is about the early 19th c. English romantic poet John Keats, who died so young in Rome.

The movie focuses on the last year or so Keats spent in England before being shipped off to Rome on account of his Tuberculosis.  During this time he meets and has a passionate relationship with a neighbor, where he and a friends were renting digs in Hampstead.

The movie’s main character is actually the neighbor, Fanny Brawne, played by Abbie Cornish.  I suppose the Academy Award will be given to someone in an unworthy flick, but Cornish will have deserved it.

The film is gorgeous, perfect in period sets and dress.  It was very quiet and patient, which I believe might allow the modern person to get something of the sense of the very different rhythm of life lived in that time.

There was not a weak link in the cast.

The director was Jane Campion, who did a marvelous job.  As a matter of fact, this film was a good her previous The Piano was dreadful.

The experience comes to revolve around letters Keats wrote to Fanny, which have survived.   They are the basis of the depiction of the relationship.

In any event, I recommend that you see Bright Star.  It will help to know the works of Keats, but it is not necessary.

    

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art–
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors–
No–yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever–or else swoon to death.

Posted in REVIEWS |
4 Comments

un- – – – – tethered

Posted on 27 September 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From Astronomy Pic of the Day:

Explanation: At about 100 meters from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger, Bruce McCandless II was further out than anyone had ever been before. Guided by a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), astronaut McCandless, pictured above, was floating free in space. McCandless and fellow NASA astronaut Robert Stewart were the first to experience such an "untethered space walk" during Space Shuttle mission 41-B in 1984. The MMU works by shooting jets of nitrogen and has since been used to help deploy and retrieve satellites. With a mass over 140 kilograms, an MMU is heavy on Earth, but, like everything, is weightless when drifting in orbit. The MMU was replaced with the SAFER backpack propulsion unit.

 

Next?

Posted in Just Too Cool |
13 Comments

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: mother dying, unborn child in danger

Posted on 26 September 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A long-time friend and long-time participant here sent me this:

    I received this from a good friend of mine.
    PLEASE PRAY FOR MRS. ALICIA ___. SHE IS PREGNANT WITH HER 11th CHILD AND ONLY HAS 6 WEEKS TO LIVE DUE TO AN INCURABLE BRAIN TUMOR… HER FAMILY IS IN TOTAL SHOCK AND THE DOCS WILL TRY TO TAKE THE BABY AT 7 MONTHS.

    I have checked with my friend to make sure this is legit and not an internet hoax (sad that we must be sure these days) and Alicia is in fact a friend of my friend’s roommate.  You once posted very wise words about believing in miracles.  I believe that the same army of readers who can move polls and conversations on Earth, would like a chance to move the saints (and future saints) to give us a beacon of light in these dark times.

    Therefore I humbly ask you to share this situation (leaving off the last name of course) and ask that your readers pray for a miracle for "Alicia".

Perhaps in your goodness, you would think to ask God for a miracle in this concrete case of urgent need.

May I suggest that you ask this miracle through the intercession of Ven. Pauline Jaricot?

    Almighty God, who knew us all from before creation
    called us into being according to Your plan,
    and knit us together in our mother’s wombs,
    we humbly beseech You,
    through the intercession of Venerable Pauline Jaricot,
    who cared for the sick during her earthly life,
    that the mother Alicia be swiftly and completely cured of her tumor
    for her sake,
    for her child’s sake,
    for her family’s sake,
    for our sake,
    and that Your glory and mercy may be manifest.

    Venerable Pauline, we ask you in this urgent need,
    pray now before God’s throne
    that Alicia be completely and swiftly healed by God’s miraculous act,
    that He be glorified in its working,
    that we be edified by His mercy,
    that you may be better recognized as God’s good servant.
    Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we thank you for your gifts and mercy.
    In Jesus’ Name we beg that this be done according to God’s will.

    Amen.

May we have ALL WDTPRSers do this?

Those of you who are registered, chime in.

Also, remember that praying to many saints and angels, while praiseworthy, makes the authentication of the miracle for more difficult. 

Posted in Pray For A Miracle |
139 Comments

Polish Priest Fined for Comparing Abortion to Holocaust

Posted on 26 September 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Did you see this?

Here is a very brief excerpt:

Polish Priest Fined for Comparing Abortion to Holocaust

 

 

By Patrick B. Craine

KATOWICE, Poland, September 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a ruling that Church leaders are calling a serious infringement of freedom of speech, a Polish judge has accused the Archdiocese of Katowice and the priest-editor of their Catholic weekly newspaper of comparing a woman who sought an abortion to the Nazis, and has ordered them to publish a court-dictated apology.

Judge Ewa Solecka, further, fined the Gosc Niedzielny (Sunday Visitor) paper $11,000, objecting to comments from editor-in-chief Fr. Marek Gancarczyk that she deemed offensive, such as his statement that in seeking to get an abortion, the woman sought to ‘kill’ her child.ng Abortion is "Killing"

 

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras |
39 Comments

Unbleached beeswax candles – where to get them?

Posted on 24 September 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Our friends over at NLM have a really good entry about sources for unbleached beeswax candles used for Requiem Masses.

Here is the post:

Sourcing Unbleached Beeswax Altar Candles

One of our priestly readers wrote in with the question of where to find unbleached beeswax altar candles for use at the altar or at the catafalque.  [Consider various sizes, too.]

I know others had the same question following my recent post encouraging the use of unbleached beeswax candles alongside the use of black vestments for Requiems and also for All Souls Day — the latter of which is now but 5 weeks away.  [Right!  Tempus fugit.]

In view of that, the time to order for All Souls Day, if that is your goal, is certainly now.

Speaking personally, I know the Eastern Christians are those who still most commonly use these and they might be those who I would first seek out. One example I came across from a quick internet search was Sts. Mary and Martha Monastery in South Carolina — an Eastern Orthodox monastery. Some of their candles can be seen in the image to the right.

I thought I would put it out to our readers to see what their own recommendations might be. Who do you yourself know of who sells unbleached beeswax candles of various widths and heights suited church use, and sold, for that matter, at reasonably affordable prices?

Please use the comments.

 

Comment there and here.

Not too long ago I contacted my friend "John" in church goods at Leaflet Missal Company in St. Paul, MN.  He got me a box of candles for the altar.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes | Tagged ,
7 Comments

Archbp. Nauman responds to HHS Sec. Sebelius, pro-abortion Catholic

Posted on 24 September 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I found this at The Catholic Key:

Archbishop Naumann Responds to Sebelius’ WaPo Interview Claim

Last week, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sat down for an interview with the Washington Post. When asked about last year’s request by Kansas City, Kansas Archbishop Joseph Naumann that then-Governor Sebelius not present herself for communion because of her repeated executive actions against human life, Sebelius said:

[Now watch the whiny and duplicitous dodge…] Well, it was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced in my life, and I am a firm believer in the separation of church and state, [Note that she doesn’t say firm believer in the teachings of the Church.  Also, this is not an issue of "separation of church and state" (something not in the Constitution.] and I feel that [and now watch the split between "private" life and "public" life…] my actions as a parishioner are different than my actions as a public official [read: "My practice is to shelve my faith when I walk out my front door for work."] and that [here is another good one, the old "we can’t impose Catholic teachings on non-Catholics" dodge….] the people who elected me in Kansas had a right to expect me to uphold their rights and their beliefs even if they did not have the same religious beliefs that I had.  [Well, Madam Secretary, this is a matter of natural law and common sense, not merely Catholic teaching.] And that’s what I did: I took an oath of office and I have taken an oath of office in this job and will uphold the law.    [Slimey.]

The claim is outrageous, because Governor Sebelius was not corrected by her bishop for upholding the law of Kansas or the wishes of the electorate. Rather she repeatedly vetoed modest pro-life proposals passed by majorities in Kansas’ elected legislature.  [Soo… not everyone’s views were respected.]

Archbishop Naumann sets the record straight in reply to a query from Lifesite News today:

"Secretary Sebelius misrepresents the issue by her attempt to invoke separation of church and state," wrote Naumann.  "At no time did I ask her not to execute her oath of office. 

"Secretary Sebelius makes it appear that she was asked not to receive Holy Communion because she was the victim of merely upholding the law.  In reality, Secretary Sebelius opposed even such modest restrictions on abortion as parental notification of minors, required waiting periods before an abortion, as well as meaningful regulation of abortion clinics to protect, at least, the mother’s health."

Naumann said it was "very painful" to ask Sebelius not to receive Communion.  "However, I had exhausted every reasonable means to convince her to change her position," he said.  "I also had a serious obligation to uphold the integrity of the Eucharist and to protect other Catholics from being misled by the former Governor’s support for legalized abortion.

"I continue to pray for Secretary Sebelius that she will accept the grace to acknowledge the grave evil in which she has been involved and will have the courage to take the necessary steps to correct the scandal created by her past actions."

See the full story at Lifesite for all the background.

Remember: The President asked that he be judged by the people with whom he surrounded himself in his administration.

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras, The Drill | Tagged ,
9 Comments

Pres. Obama’s “science czar”: compusory involuntary abortion because of climate change

Posted on 24 September 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From WorldNetDaily there are some comments about Pres. Obama’s "Science Czar" John Holdren.

Obama science czar John Holdren stated in a college textbook he co-authored that in conditions of emergency, compulsory abortion would be sustainable under the U.S. Constitution, even with Supreme Court review.

WND has obtained a copy of "Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment," published in 1977 and co-authored by Holdren with Malthusian population alarmist Paul R. Ehrlich and Ehrlich’s wife, Ann. As WND reported, the authors argued involuntary birth-control measures, including forced sterilization, may be necessary and morally acceptable under extreme conditions, such as widespread famine brought about by "climate change."

To prevent ecological disasters, including "global warming," Holdren argued the U.S. Constitution would permit involuntary abortions, government-imposed sterilizations and laws limiting the number of children as steps justified under the banner of "sustainable well-being."

 

This is just an excerpt.  Read the rest there.

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras |
23 Comments