Right now in NYC some idiots are out in the street protesting corporations. I saw some brief interviews with a cross-section of the protesters. They seemed to be faux-communists. Faux, because they seem not to have a clue what they are talking about.
Over at The American Catholic there is an image which sums up the irony of the protesters’ protests.
How about some good news from and for the readership?
For my part, I am happy during some travels and down time to be catching up with friends and people I haven’t seen for a while.
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Is having a pet blessed a odd ball thing? I would feel odd about
bringing my dog into a church. She is a good dog but still.
I have no problem at all with blessing pets or other animals. I once stood outside a little church in Italy and blessed pigs and horses on the feast of St. Anthony the Abbot.
God gave stewardship of all material creation to man and that duty was not lifted with the Fall of our First Parents. Holy Church has blessings for animals of different kinds, as well as deprecatory prayers against noxious, pestiferous, annoying animals… such as squirrels. I hate squirrels. But I digress.
Animals were given to us by God, as part of creation which He calls good, for our proper use and our enjoyment. Animals benefit us in many ways and it is normal that we should call down God’s blessings on them so that they can continue to be even more useful and beneficial. Pets have an important part to play in our lives. So long as we keep them with a proper perspective and see them for what they are, they are good.
You can take a copy of pages of the old Rituale Romanum translated into English with you. Otherwise, even better, get Father his own copy of the reprint of Fr. Weller’s translation of the Rituale which has the blessings.
Don’t bring your cattle into church, however. Fido can stay outside with Anathema and Scourge the Cat.
From a reader:
I have heard from a solid priest-friend that attending an SSPX Mass is perfectly permissible for a Catholic in good standing, and such a one can even there receive communion. Today I was to go to an EF Mass at a Catholic church, but due to unforeseen train delays this was not possible. I was with friends, as I am in a new environment, and they suggested we go to the SSPX church. Even though I felt uneasy, I went along, thinking that it was probably all right (indeed, they did not seem worried, even though I was). Does this suffice to fulfill my Sunday obligation?
The Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church says:
can. 1248 1. The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day.
This means that if you go to a chapel of the SSPX on the day of precept or the evening before and attend Holy Mass, you fulfill your obligation. The SSPX celebrate in a Catholic Rite.
However, I do not recommend that people do this frequently, because frequency can undermine their unity with the Roman Pontiff. The risk of this erosion of unity could in part depend on the manner of preaching and many other factors.
Also, I will not recommend reception of Holy Communion at an SSPX chapel at this time, unless the conditions of your life are such that it would be very difficult to get to another church or parish actually in union with the local diocese and Rome. The obstacles must be serious, but they cannot be easily spelled out because the circumstances of people’s lives differ so much.
So, yes, you all fulfilled your Mass obligation. However, I will not go so far as to say that attendance at a SSPX chapel is “perfectly” permissible. It is permissible under certain circumstances.
If it were “perfectly” permissible, then the Holy Father would not be so concerned about bringing them back into clear unity with him and his successors.
Thank you for being concerned enough to ask. This question comes up fairly often and it bears review.
On the site of the parish of the Cathedral of Madison in Wisconsin, where His Excellency Most Rev. Robert Morlino is, by the grace of God, the ordinary, there is a pdf of the parish bulletin in which it is explained that they are ending regular distribution of Holy Communion under both kinds.
You will recall that at the Cathedral of Phoenix, where Bishop Olmsted is, by the grace of God, ordinary, the same decision was made.
Here is the bulletin blurb from Msgr. Kevin Holmes, Rector of the Cathedral in Madison with my emphases and comments.
Dear Friends in Christ:
Maybe you noticed a story in last week?s Catholic Herald about new
norms for Communion under both species in the Diocese of Phoenix. You may have wondered why this story from Arizona received such prominent coverage here (on page 3 of the Catholic Herald, where letters from Bishop Morlino appear). In fact, the story was featured because it will be significant for us as well. Bishop Morlino spoke to us priests about this while we together at Wisconsin Dells at the end of last month.In the last couple of decades, Communion under both species (with the congregation able to receive the Pre-cious Blood as well as the Sacred Host) has become routine in our experience. I knew (as many of you do) that Communion under both species was first introduced, on a limited basis, after the Second Vatican Council, and that it has become much more common since. What I did not know was that the widespread American practice of offering both species at most Sunday Masses began here under an indult (special permission) given by the Vatican in 1975, which expired in 2005. [Get that everyone? The key points: it was a special permission to depart from the norm and that permission expired.]
Almost no one realized that until very recently. Maybe we can be
forgiven for forgetting that we were operating under a temporary
indult. After thirty years, something can seem pretty permanent. But it wasn’t. The bishops of our country did apply for an extension of the 1975 in-dult, but that was denied.
So, all over the United States, we now find ourselves needing to bring our practice into conformity with current regulations (and with the rest of the world). In his comments at Chula Vista, Bishop Morlino mentioned a few instances in which Communion under both kinds is still permitted: the Chrism Mass, the Feast of Corpus Christi, for the bride and groom at a Nuptial Mass, and for those so allergic to wheat that they cannot tolerate even low-gluten hosts. Beyond those occasions and circumstances, Communion can be offered under both species at celebrations of special importance. But it is clear that we will not be seeing Communion under both species as a weekly practice.
Bishop Morlino understands that this comes as news to all of us. He is giving pastors considerable latitude as to the timetable for implement-ing this change. He suggested that the beginning of Advent (when the new translation of the Missal is fully implemented) would be one plausible date to make the change. That will be our timetable here at the Cathedral Parish (and also at St. Paul’s University Catholic Center, the other parish clustered with us).
Msgr. Kevin D. Holmes
Times are changing.
WDTPRS kudos to Msgr. Holmes and to Bp. Morlino … again
Yesterday’s Rosary procession from Westminster Cathedral to the Brompton Oratory produced lots of prayers, or course, and lots of nice photos as well. Here is a link to a flicker collection.
Our friends over at Rorate have a good post about priests, perception of priests, and the old Catch 22 they sometimes face.
It made me think of something an old chestnut of a chain letter which I have posted here before:
The Perfect Priest
The results of a computerized survey indicate the perfect priest preaches exactly fifteen minutes. He condemns sins but never upsets anyone. He works from 8:00 AM until midnight and is also a janitor. He makes $50 a week, wears good clothes, buys good books, drives a good car, and gives about $50 weekly to the poor. He is 28 years old and has preached 30 years. He has a burning desire to work with teenagers and spends all of his time with senior citizens.
The perfect priest smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his work. He makes 15 calls daily on parish families, shut-ins and the hospitalized, and is always in his office when needed.
If your priest does not measure up, simply send this letter to six other churches that are tired of their priest, too. Then bundle up your priest and send him to the church on the top of the list. In one week, you will receive 1,643 priests and one of them will be perfect. Have faith in this procedure.
One parish broke the chain and got its old priest back in less than three weeks.
From a reader:
In my parish there is offered both the TLM or EF and the NO. Sometimes parishioners who almost exclusively attend the NO come to the TLM (which is a great thing, praise God and Vivat Papa!) . However, often these members of the faithful import customs from the NO, post particularly they approach the communion rail with arms folded and expect a blessing (which, because our holy priest is very charitable and not particularly traditional, they receive). They also sometimes insist on saying the Oratio Dominica [For people in Columbia Heights that’s the Lord’s Prayer.] with the priest and (I digress a little now) wear clothing that unfortunately is not out of place at a NO Mass, but is very much so – and even offensive, at a TLM.
Can I do anything to stop these things while exercising charity to stop these things which are distractions to me and other members of the faithful, and which Mother Church in her infinite wisdom does not deem part of a TLM?
Perhaps, friend, you need to worry about other things.
Three observations.
If the priest wants to give the blessings at Communion, that is not part of Mass but neither is it the end of the world. We are in a time of transition. I am also reminded of the parable in which some workers are resentful that others who didn’t work as long are getting a wage for a day. But I digress…. Let the priest deal with these things, perhaps in sermons, announcements given during Mass, or bulletin notes.
About the Lord’s Prayer: Pope’s Pius IX and Pius XII indicated that the congregation could say the Lord’s Prayer together with the priest. This was long in place before the 1962 Missale Romanum. It is one aspect of participation at Mass from before the book we use for the Extraordinary Form you may not prefer it, but don’t say it has nothing to do with the Extraordinary Form. It does. I know that some people who prefer the TLM don’t like that. Sorry. Again, let the priest guide the development of the local customs and application of the provisions of Summorum Pontificum.
Also, while somethings are distracting to you, other things are distracting to the new comers. For example, not saying the Lord’s Prayer and not receiving a blessing, when all their lives they have been doing these things, is a matter of real distraction.
I would let things be and not worry about them too much. Life is sometimes messy. New blood coming to the parish is good. People figuring out the lay of the land on their own without coercion and then changing their ways to fit in is a good thing.
The enormous bronze and brass thing menacing the stage of the Paul VI Audience Hall in Vatican City is going to be cleaned, etc.
I have a different solution.
[wp_youtube]PcR85Ojhx6M[/wp_youtube]
This is for your Just Too Cool folder. BBC reports:
Admiral Cochrane artefacts go on display for first time
The life of an admiral who inspired the character Jack Aubrey, portrayed in the film Master and Commander, is to form an exhibition in Edinburgh.
Novelist Patrick O’Brian partly based his 19th Century captain on the seafaring Scot, Thomas Cochrane.
The display charts Cochrane’s life, from growing up in Fife, to battling Napoleon’s Navy, from scandal and disgrace to becoming a Chilean hero.
Admiral Cochrane, the Real Master and Commander opens later.
The National Museum of Scotland exhibition includes objects that have never previously been on public display.
The artefacts include medals, trophies and personal mementos and a portrait of Cochrane by James Ramsay.
Personal objects connect the man with his remarkable story throughout the exhibition, from the pocket watch Cochrane was given by his father when he first went to sea to the Bosun’s Call silver whistle he kept as a souvenir from his naval service.
Dr Stuart Allan, senior curator at National Museums Scotland, said: “Cochrane’s story is as remarkable as any of the fictional exploits which he inspired and yet he remains a figure who is not widely remembered or recognised in Scotland.
“This exhibition aims to remedy that by giving people a unique chance to see first hand artefacts, documents and portraits from Cochrane’s lifetime.”
Curators said the exhibition reveals a “fiery character with difficulty accepting authority”.
It charts his rise from his first major exploit in capturing the Spanish frigate El Gamo in 1801 to one of his most notable achievements, the attack on the French fleet in the Basque Roads in 1809.
The exhibition also includes the Star of Bath, the Knighthood awarded to Cochrane for this action as well as graphic display charting the progress of the battle.
National hero
He became an MP after this but then dramatically lost his rank, seat and peerage after being controversially found guilty of a stock exchange fraud.
After his trial, he emigrated with his family to Chile, where he took command of their navy in the war of independence with Spain.
His successes led to his becoming a national hero in Chile, where he is remembered to this day.
Among the decorations and gifts on display is a sea chest presented by the people of Chile, inscribed ‘Soy de Cochrane’ (I belong to Cochrane).
This chapter of Cochrane’s career also inspired a central character in one of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels.
He was known by name to Napoleon, praised in verse by Sir Walter Scott, and Lord Byron said in 1821 “There is no man I envy so much as Lord Cochrane.”
If you are near Edinburgh don’t be a crackit gaberlunzie or a puir slow-witted gowk. Go see the exhibit.
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
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So, all over the United States, we now find ourselves needing to bring our practice into conformity with current regulations (and with the rest of the world). In his comments at Chula Vista, Bishop Morlino mentioned a few instances in which Communion under both kinds is still permitted: the Chrism Mass, the Feast of Corpus Christi, for the bride and groom at a Nuptial Mass, and for those so allergic to wheat that they cannot tolerate even low-gluten hosts. Beyond those occasions and circumstances, Communion can be offered under both species at celebrations of special importance. But it is clear that we will not be seeing Communion under both species as a weekly practice.
