Bp. Sample: “We cannot – we will not – comply with this unjust law.”

Posted on 26 January 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

His Excellency Alex Sample, Bishop of Marquette, has made a powerful statement in the face of the Obama Administration’s open attack on the Catholic Church, the 1st Amendment, and the religious freedom of all Americans. My friend Fr. john Boyle at Caritas in veritate receives my biretta tip.

Bishop Sample: “We cannot – we will not – comply with this unjust law”

Bp. Sample

The Most Reverend Alexander K Sample, Bishop of Marquette, has published a letter to be read at all Masses this coming weekend. It comes in the wake of the Obama Administration’s decision to force all employers, including Catholic employers, to offer health coverage that includes sterlization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception thereby denying Catholics and the Catholic Church the freedom to practise and live according to their religious beliefs.

WDTPRS kudos to my old friend Bp. Sample.

He better be careful or he’s going to wind up moved to … Chicago.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Brick by Brick, Fr. Z KUDOS, Mail from priests, Our Catholic Identity, Priests and Priesthood, Religious Liberty, The Drill, The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice | Tagged , , , , , ,
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QUAERITUR: Formula for distribution of Communion in Ordinary Form

Posted on 26 January 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a priest:

Do you know when exactly the formula for giving Communion to the faithful was changed?

In the Ordinary Form the minister says “Corpus Christi… The Body of Christ” and the communicant responds “Amen”.

In the Extraordinary Form the minister says something closer to what the priest says before his own Communion “Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam. Amen.” The minister says “Amen”, not the communicant.

My understanding is that Paul VI in 1964 said said that the formula should be shortened. Inter oecumenici 48, i.  There was a follow up decree Quo actuosius, beginning:

“In order that the people may more actively and beneficially take part in the sacrifice of the Mass and profess their faith in the eucharistic mystery in the very act of receiving communion, numerous requests have been submitted to Pope Paul VI for a more appropriate formulary for the distribution of communion.” (BTW… I don’t think the claimed motive worked.)

“Corpus Christi”  is what was said in the Ambrosian Rite (Paul VI had been Archbishop of Milan, of course.) and the shorter form is attested to both Sts. Ambrose and Augustine. The shortened form was therefore picked up for the Novus Ordo.

Ambrose (probably) wrote in his work to the newly baptized (therefore Augustine would have something like this from Ambrose own lips) De sacramentis 4.25:

“So you say not indifferently ‘Amen’, already confessing in spirit that you receive the body of Christ. Therefore, when you ask, the priest says to you: ‘the body of Christ’, and you say: ‘Amen’, that is, ‘truly’. What the tongue confesses let the affection hold. That you may know, moreover: ‘This is a sacrament, whose figure went on before’.”

Augustine said in s. 272, preached perhaps in 408 on Pentecost, to the infantes (newly baptized) about the fact that we see one thing (bread) but we receive another (Christ).

“What you hear, you see, is ‘The Body of Christ,’ and you answer, ‘Amen’. So be a member of the body of Christ, in order to make that ‘Amen’ true.”

In any event, despite the Patristic pedigree, in this time of weak Catholic identity, we should by means of the “gravitational pull” exerted by the Extraordinary Form, return in the Novus Ordo to the older form of distribution, perhaps beginning on weekdays.  Right now, that would be contra legem.


Posted in ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Mail from priests, Our Catholic Identity, Patristiblogging, The future and our choices | Tagged , , , ,
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Pray for Bishops!

Posted on 26 January 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The US Bishops are going to need steel… spines in the upcoming battle for religious liberty.

Bishops, however, remain human beings, sinners, susceptible to many negative pressures.

And do not forget that the Enemy of the Soul hates bishops with the relentless focus cunning of an angelic being.

Pray for our bishops, especially for your local bishop.

There is an online initiative to promote prayer for bishops which you might refer to: Rosary For The Bishop.

You should pray for your bishops every single day.  I also recommend offering your penances for your bishop.

Tomorrow, for example, is a Friday. We are to do penance on Fridays.  Make a plan to offer some penance for your bishop.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged , ,
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USCCB on Obama Administration’s attack on Catholic religious freedom

Posted on 26 January 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Check out a blog entry from Sr. Mary Ann Walsh of the USCCB’s media office.

Here is the first part.

HHS ABC RULE: ANYBODY BUT CATHOLICS HAS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Health and Human Services’ recent attacks on freedom of religion show it is deaf to religious sensibilities. Even the Administration’s resounding defeat on January 11—when the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected the Administration’s reading of the First Amendment as “extreme,” “untenable,” and having “no merit”—couldn’t unplug its ears.

The Court held in Hosanna Tabor v. EEOC that the government could not meddle in the internal affairs of religious organizations, in this case, a Lutheran church and school. Yet nine days later, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said it would force all but a few religious organizations to violate their own teachings in providing health care benefits to their own people. Specifically, the government has ordered virtually all employers—nationwide— to sponsor and subsidize health care coverage of sterilization and contraceptives, including abortion-inducing drugs, for their employees. And it gave church employers a year to get in line.

The First Amendment unambiguously says that government “shall make no law” prohibiting the free exercise of religion. It doesn’t say that some laws trampling free exercise are fine. It says no law.

Yet, nine days after the Hosanna-Tabor decision, on January 20, HHS announced its decision to keep in place the frightening mandate in the health care law, with barely the slightest nod to religious concerns. HHS holds to the absurd rule it announced last August, that church ministries get a religious exemption only if they employ and serve primarily co-religionists.

Must Catholic hospitals, to be true to their identity, now turn away people of other faiths from their emergency rooms and fire non-Catholic employees? Currently, Catholic hospitals serve one out of six people who seek hospital care in our country. Must Catholic Charities hire and serve only Catholics in its food pantries and other social service agencies? Until today, you didn’t need a baptismal certificate for soup.

This egregious violation of religious freedom marks the first time in our history that the federal government is forcing religious people and groups to ante up for services that violate their consciences. Some claim this is all about access to contraceptives—but everyone knows how and where to get them, and get them cheaply. And the mandate also forces coverage of sterilization and abortion-causing drugs. This is about forcing the church to pay for all these things through insurance coverage, to sponsor these “benefits” that it considers immoral. This is, in other words, about freedom of religion, which is a foundation stone of U.S. democracy.

[…]

Read the rest there, where you can also comment.

Posted in Dogs and Fleas, Emanations from Penumbras, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged , , , , , ,
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Statue of Our Lady at 1571 Battle of Lepanto comes to light!

Posted on 26 January 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

An alert reader sent me to an interesting article in Spanish at ABC about the original statue of Our Lady given by Venice to don Juan de Austria that was on the quarterdeck of his flagship (more properly “lantern galley”) at Lepanto.

Apparently it had been lost for years but was recently rediscovered and is undergoing restoration at the Spanish Navy Museum:

Virgen del Rosario o della Vitoria

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Another confirmation that NeoCats must follow official liturgical books for Mass

Posted on 26 January 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From CNA comes this about the NeoCats and their liturgical variants.

Rome, Italy, Jan 25, 2012 / 01:56 pm (CNA).- Father Ricardo Reyes Castillo, a member of the Neocatechumenal Way, said Pope Benedict XVI’s approval of the movement’s non-liturgical celebrations “has changed absolutely nothing.”

The Panamanian priest told CNA on Jan. 23 that the papal approval of the celebrations contained in the Neocatechumenal Catechetical Directory means “simply that the Church has confirmed that the rites used in the different stages of formation in the Neocatechumenal Way are in accord with the tradition of the Church.”

“This is just another step in the process through which the Church lovingly follows the faithful who belong to this experience of faith,” he added.

The Pontifical Council for the Laity approved the ceremonies outlined in the Catechetical Directory of the Neocatechumenal Way, specifying that this approval applied to those celebrations “which are not, by their nature, already regulated by the liturgical books of the Church.”

[…]

Again, the NeoCats are required to follow the official liturgical books, though, as I understand, with the permission of the local bishop, they can move the Sign of Peace.

Posted in Linking Back, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged ,
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QUAERITUR: The traditional Roman Ritual and “reserved blessings”: can priests use them?

Posted on 26 January 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a priest (slightly edited):

Dear Fr. Z,

I was talking to a fellow priest the other day regarding blessings. I was relating to him how I loved using the Extraordinary Form blessings from the 3 Vol. set [translated by Weller], to which he said he prefers them as well. I then asked if he had used any of the blessings to make sacramental healing water yet, e.g. on the feast of Ignatius the Confessor. He replied that he hadn’t because those were reserved. I responded that I had heard that all reserved blessings had been lifted since circa Vatican II. Personally I should have fact-checked hearsay before using some of the EF blessings; yet, here is my attempt at resolving this liturgical legal conundrum.

Reverend and Dear Father, on 26 Sept 1964 the Sacred Congregation of Rites, on September issued an Instruction stating in par. 77:

“The blessings in the Rituale Romanum tit. IX, cap. 9, 10, 11, hitherto reserved, may be given by any priest, except for: the blessing of a bell for the use of a blessed church or oratory (cap. 9, no. 11); the blessing of the cornerstone of a church (cap. 9, no. 16); the blessing of a new church or public oratory (cap. 9, no. 17); the blessing of an antemensium (cap. 9, no. 21); the blessing of a new cemetery (cap. 9, no. 22); papal blessings (cap. 10, nos. 1-3); the blessing and erection of the stations of the cross (cap. 11, no. 1). reserved to the bishop.”

So, any priest, not just a member of the Society of Jesus, can use the blessing of water in honor of St. Ignatius.

There are lots of spiffy blessings in the book, Father!  Use them!  Lay people, check ’em out!  Figure out a way to integrate these sacramentals into your lives.

Those blessings that were formerly reserved can be found on the great website maintained by the Canons of St. John Cantius, HERE.

Finally, thank you, Pope Benedict, for the provisions of Summorum Pontificum!

The older Roman Ritual is a mighty tool for the promotion of the New Evangelization.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, Priests and Priesthood, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, The Drill | Tagged
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Again Governor of Maryland pushes same-sex marriage

Posted on 26 January 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From EWTN:

Maryland governor renews push for same-sex marriage

Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Catholic, has renewed his efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland. Same-sex marriage legislation passed in the state senate last year but failed in the state house.

“More and more Marylanders … recognize that redefining marriage is not a question of civil rights,” said Mary Ellen Russell, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference. “Our state’s marriage statute is not an arbitrary recognition of one relationship among many possibilities. This recognition–bestowed on marriage by societies throughout human history–originates in a simple biological fact. The union of one man and one woman is the only human relationship capable of creating children and nurturing them together as father and mother.”

“The bill’s limited exemptions for religious organizations remain ambiguous and by no means cover the host of circumstances that would create a conflict between the government and faith institutions if marriage is redefined,” Russell added. “Moreover, the exemptions do nothing to address religious liberties for the average citizen.”

Last year Baltimore’s Archbishop Edwin O’Brien warned Governor O’Malley about his support for same-sex marriage, urging him to drop a cause “that so deeply conflicts with your faith, not to mention the best interests of our society.” In a reply to the archbishop, the governor said that he has “a public obligation to try to change that injustice.”

(Archbishop O’Brien has subsequently resigned as head of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, to become grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. He remains acting administrator of the archdiocese. He will be raised to the College of Cardinals at the February consistory.)

Posted in One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged , , ,
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Vespers for Feast of St. Paul (BrevRom)

Posted on 25 January 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

For Vespers at St. Paul’s Outside-The-Walls nearly all the cardinals wore their birettas while seated.

They should do it over.

Here is no frills vespers for today’s Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul from the Breviarium Romanum. Follow along, even with English side by side, here.

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Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
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Fr. Z endorses idea from NcFishwrap. Sky to Fall. Lord to Return. Film at 11.

Posted on 25 January 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Was that booming CRACK I just heard the opening of the Fifth Seal?

You know that things are getting pretty serious when Fr. Z endorses an idea from the National catholic Fishwrap.

But it was a good idea, and around here we play fair.  We do our fair share!

Michael Sean Winters has gotten it right, so far, about Pres. Obama’s attacks on the 1st Amendment, religious liberty, and the Catholic Church in particular.

He has an idea. My emphases and comments.

In 2006, [retired] Cardinal Roger Mahony, the most prominent carrier of the social justice tradition of Cardinal Bernardin, [I know you want to stop reading now, but do try to forge ahead…] said that he would call upon his flock to practice civil disobedience in the face of a proposed law that would have banned Catholic charities from assisting undocumented workers. Mahony rightly invoked the right of the Church to pursue its Gospel-mandated ministries without interference from the State.  [Okay… there isn’t quite a moral equivalence between being prevented from performing corporal works of mercy and being forced to distribute contraception, or being forced to adopt children out to homosexual couples, or some other issues, but you can see where he is going: if civil disobedience in the case of A, then perhaps also in the case of B.]

Mahony delivered a sharp rebuke to the Obama administration following last week’s announcement that it refused to enlarge the conscience exemption from HHS mandated health insurance coverage of procedures the Church opposes.  [I wrote on that here.]

So, I offer a modest proposal. The U.S. cardinals should pick a day and, with the support of like-minded clerics from other religious traditions, come to Washington and chain themselves to the White House fence, get arrested, and bring further attention to the issue of religious liberty. Civil disobedience by clergy has a proud tradition, including Dr. King’s protests against segregation and the countless clergy who engaged in civil disobedience to protest the Vietnam War. The cardinals might wish to choose the Feast of St. Thomas More, June 22, to make their point although that would give the event a distinctly Catholic flavor. Or they might choose a secular anniversary, say, August 21, which was the day in 1789 that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Bill of Rights.

You will note that the link above to the story about Cardinal Mahony’s 2006 call for civil disobedience brings you to an editorial by the [Hell’s Bible…] New York Times. Then, the Times applauded Mahony. Will they have the courage of their commitment to the First Amendment again?

A pretty good idea.

I am reminded of the old priest who was arrested at Notre Dame at the request of the administration there for protesting that university’s pandering to the most dedicated pro-abortion president we have ever seen.  But I digress.

Sincerely, I would be tempted to go to Washington and stand there with the US Cardinals, provided that I and the no-doubt large crowd of other willing priests wouldn’t distract from the actions of the truly important churchmen involved.  Sometimes less is more.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Biased Media Coverage, Brick by Brick, Emanations from Penumbras, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, Priests and Priesthood, Religious Liberty, The Drill, The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice | Tagged , , , , ,
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