Your Sunday Sermon notes – 4th Sunday after Pentecost (13th Ordinary) 2020

Posted on 28 June 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Was there a good point made in the sermon you heard at the Mass for your Sunday, either live or on the internet? Let us know what it was.

Also, are you churches opening up?  What was attendance like?

For my part…

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged , ,
9 Comments

CQ CQ CQ – #HamRadio: Fun with Morse

Posted on 28 June 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I’ve been slowly but surely working on learning Morse Code.  It’s a bit of a slog.  And when I listen to CW pileups, it’s pretty intimidating.   But… FORWARD!

Speaking of Morse Code, I received this via email.

Meanwhile, I’ve been monitoring ZedNet today.  I am connected at the moment via Echolink.

On ZedNet More HERE.  To get yourself going, WB0YLE gave me a Bill of Materials.  A list of what you need.  HERE

I built a DMR hotspot with a Raspberry Pi and got it working with no problems.   If necessary we can get you some tech help here for programming.

I’ve also put my toe into POTA.

Any hams out there with a Elecraft KX3 you would like to sell?

 

Posted in Ham Radio | Tagged
6 Comments

Concerning statues

Posted on 28 June 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Funny.  I picked this up at Parler, to which I am giving more attention, while giving less to Twitter.   This was from the estimable Chad Pecknold.

If you are tired of hearing that statues are being torn down, you might appreciate that some statues are fighting back.

I’d like to see what those idiot terrorists would do with those “weeping angel” statues from that Brit scifi series.

Don’t blink, you you’d miss it.

Posted in Lighter fare |
8 Comments

First Blessings by new priests. Indulgenced? NO! Interesting Latin texts. And Fr. Z rants.

Posted on 27 June 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There have been quite a few ordinations in the last month or so.  I am always glad to see the pictures or good video.  However, year in and year out, I note with a measure of concern among the newly ordained and younger priests a trend to be curtailed as soon as possible.

Fathers, when you give your first blessings, don’t hunch over people and grab their heads as if you were a dark wizard extracting their life force for your own evil purposes.

Firstly, don’t hunch.   Next, stand up straight.  If you simply must hold your hands over someone, hold them straight and parallel to the ground.   When you make the Sign of the Cross, put your left hand on your breast while you make the Sign with your right.

And… just how much do you think you can squeeze into a blessing before people get impatient or lost in what you are trying to say?  There is no need to throw in all sorts of other ingredients as if those to be blessed were lined up at a salad bar …  sprinklings of pious imagery, vague invocations of niceness and holy fluff, rambling discourses that dead end in words like “beautiful” … you know of which I speak.

Say the blessing and get over yourselves.

The blessing:

Benedictio Dei omnipotentis Patris, et + Filii, et Spiritus Sancti descendat super te [plural: vos] et máneat semper. Amen.

May the blessing of Almighty God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit/Ghost, descend upon you and remain with you forever. Amen.

Memorize this.

This is also the blessing the priest should give to servers after Mass.

HOWEVER: There are some blessing prayers for people having to do with their state in life.  Some, quite lovely.  You would probably have to have these texts.   Alas, I don’t have their provenance.  I had an old file that has gone from computer to computer over the years and eventually to this blog.   These are blessings prayers for new priests.

Formulæ Benedictionum

Sacerdoti:

Resúscitet in te Dóminus grátiam Spíritus Sancti quam per mánuum impositiónem accepísti, ut sis dignus mínister Christi et fidélis dispensátor misteriórum Dei – sis sal Christi numquam infatuándum et incérna ardens in domo Dei – memor sit Dóminus omnis sacrifícii tui, et holocaústum tuum pinque fiat. Tríbuat tibi Dóminus longitúdinem diérum et finálem grátiam, ut possis bonum certámen certáre et cursum tuum felíciter consummáre, adjuvánte Dómino nostro Jesu Christo, qui vivit et regnat cum Deo Patre in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia saécula sæculórum. Amen.

Clerico [Let’s call this deacons and major seminarians]:

Effúndat super te Dóminus Spíritum sapiéntiæ et intelléctus, consílii, sciéntiæ, fortitúdinis, pietátis ac timóris Dómini, ut evádas sacérdos secúndum cor Dei. Adímpleat Deus petitiónes tuas et omne consílium tuum confírmet, ac omni benedictióne cœlésti ac terréstri benedícat te Deus Pater et Fílius et Spíritus Sanctus.  Amen.

Regulari vel Moniali:

Deprecatiónes tuas admíttat Dóminus ad sacrárium exauditiónis suæ, ut possis gloriári in cruce Dómini nostri Jesu Christi, per quem tibi mundus crucifíxus est et tu mundo, et cui fidéliter desérvis, ipse sit tibi merces tua, qui vivit regnat cum Deo Patre in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia saécula sæculórum. Amen.

Patri vel Matri [adjust if they are together]:

Accipe Pater (Mater) benedictiónem a fílio, qui tibi sit báculus in senectúte tua, benedícat te Deus benedictiónibus cœli et terræ, ímpleat omnes petitiónes tuas, det tibi ómnia secúndum cor tuum, confírmet omne consílium tuum. Largiátur tibi de abscóndito thesaúro suo, plenitúdinem omnis grátiæ et longitúdinem vitæ tuæ; cum autem defécerit virtus tua non derelínquat te Dóminus, sed tríbuat tibi finálem grátiam meque in ætérnæ claritátis gaúdio fáciat te vidére, qui vivit et regnat in saécula sæculórum. Amen.

Fratri vel Sorori:

Accipe frater (soror) benedictiónem a fratre tuo, quam Deus ratam hábeat in conspéctu suo (reliqua si sit adolescens, ut infra pro adolescente; si virgo, ut pro virgine.)

Adolescenti:

Omnipoténtia ætérni Dei Patris consérvet te, Fílii Dei sapiéntia erúdiat te, et Spíritus Sancti cáritas inflámmet te, ut crescas sapiéntia et ætáte, ac grátia apud Deum et hómines. Sis báculus in senectúte tuórum paréntum, et vídeas bona Jerúsalem ómnibus diébus vitæ tuæ, ac omni benedictióne cœlésti ac terréstri benedícat te Deus, Pater et Fílius et Spíritus Sanctus.

Virgini:

Tríbuat tibi Dóminus de abscóndito thesaúro suo grátiam, ut sis virgo sápiens, et una de número prudéntum. Effúndat super te Spíritum pietátis, castitátis ac timóris sui, ut sponso cœlésti complacére, et ad thálamum eius admitti mereáris, qui vivit et regnat in saécula sæculórum. Amen.

Benedictio communis: [along with the other one, above, the winner!]

Omni benedictióne cœlésti et terréstri, benedícat te omnípotens Deus, Pater et Fílius et Spíritus Sanctus. Amen.

Benedictio generalis: in casu innumerabilis populi ambas manus extendendo dicit:

Pax Dómini nostri Jesu Christi, et virtus sanctíssimæ passiónis, et signum sanctæ crucis, et intégritas beatíssimæ Maríæ Vírginis, intercessiónes ómnium Sanctórum et suffrágia electórum Dei sint in vobis, ut inimícos vestros visíbiles et invisíbiles, máxime in hora mortis superáre valeátis, et omni benedictióne cœlésti et terréstri benedícat vos omnípotens Deus, Pater et Fílius et Spíritus Sanctus.

Per impositiónem (extensiónem*) mánuum meárum sacerdotálium, et per intercessiónem beátæ Maríæ semper Vírginis, et Sancti (Sanctæ)…, et ómnium Sanctórum; Benedíctio Dei Omnipoténtis, Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti, descéndat super te (vos) et máneat semper Amen.

* “Extensiónem” was/is used for anyone tonsured or for consecrated nuns.  You wouldn’t touch them.

Another thing about 1st Blessings.

While there is a plenary indulgence given to the faithful who assist devoutly at the first Mass of a priest (and also as his 25, 50, 60 and 70 year anniversaries, as per Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, art. 27), there is no indulgence now for receiving the first BLESSING of a priest.

HOWEVER: The law permits diocesan bishops the right to grant partial indulgences to their subjects (Enchiridion 7).   Hence, a new priest could ask the bishop to grant for a period of time – say 30 days – a partial indulgence for those who receive his first blessing.  In the case of religious, the newly ordained’s major superior could ask the bishop to grant this.

 

Posted in Hard-Identity Catholicism, Priests and Priesthood, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged ,
9 Comments

COVID-1984 UPDATE: Doctors say Communion on the tongue while kneeling is safer than Communion on the hand

Posted on 27 June 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

First, retired Polish Archbishop Jan Pawel Lenga, said that bishops who force people to receive Communion on the hand are going to “end up in Hell”. HERE

For a person to wind up in Hell he has to have committed a mortal sin. For a sin to be a mortal sin for which one has culpability, the matter has to be grave, the person has to know it is wrong, and then go ahead and do it anyway, or else counsel it to be done, force others to do it, etc. There are NINE ways to share in the guilt of another.

Everything having to do with the Eucharist and Communion is serious, so sins involving the same would be grave because of their matter.

As far as knowledge is concerned, bishops today are men of their age. It is likely that some of them had really bad seminary formation. However, they spent time as priests, during which time their priestly vocation obliged them to inform themselves about all things central to their vocation. Bishops must do the same. Priests and bishops cannot easily claim ignorance as a defense when it comes to knowing that certain things are sinful. Their ignorance is culpable.

Furthermore, it is beyond the authority of an individual bishop to prohibit Communion on the tongue. And yet some do this anyway, with the excuse of “public health”. They simply get away with the ultra vires imposition of their will because the flock has so little power to fight back.

As we’ve been saying…

From LifeSite:

21 doctors tell bishops Communion on tongue ‘safer’ than in hand

‘From the point of view of hygiene, it is absolutely incomprehensible to us why oral communion has been banned in Austria. We also consider this form of distribution safer than hand communion.’

June 26, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Twenty-one Austrian doctors have authored a letter appealing their country’s Bishops’ Conference to lift the de facto ban on receiving Holy Communion on the tongue, which has been enforced since Communion in the hand was announced to be the only permitted form of distribution for the consecrated Host.

[…]

They went on to show in substance that in the traditional Catholic liturgy – that is, the Tridentine Rite of the Mass – barrier measures to prevent spreading the coronavirus are even more widely present than in the Novus Ordo, as when the priest is required to hold thumb and forefinger joined together from the moment he has consecrated the bread, only using them to touch the Host from then on until the moment when he once again purifies his hands.

[…]

The doctors commented that “the priests who celebrate in the traditional rite are experienced in administering oral communion and practically never have contact with the mouth of the communicant. Should this happen, however, a priest can be credited with such a sense of responsibility that, taking into account the present situation, he will interrupt the giving of communion and clean his hands.”

They also noted that when the faithful kneel to receive Communion, contamination by droplets is less likely because the priest’s face is not at the same level as that of the communicant.

“From the point of view of hygiene, it is absolutely incomprehensible to us why oral communion has been banned in Austria. We also consider this form of distribution safer than hand communion,” the doctors wrote. They also underscored that most contaminations are the result of sullied hands, quoting Dr. Boscia, who wrote in May: “What is certain is that the hands are the parts of the body that are most exposed to pathogens.”

[…]

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged , ,
7 Comments

BOOK: The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates by Edward Pentin

Posted on 26 June 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I’m having a look right now at two books which speculate about the next Pope.  One is by George Weigel.  HERE  I’ll get to him.

First, there is an offering by the best working vaticanista today, Edward Pentin.

This is a good summary of the accomplishments and positions of really interesting men who will choose (or be chosen to be) the next Pope.   The next conclave, like the next presidential/senatorial election in these USA, are going to be definitive turning points.  “You can’t know the players without a program”, so the saying goes.

The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates

US HERE – UK HERE

It is not yet released.  I have a review copy.   Right now, as of this writing, you can pre-order a paperback for a reduced price of $24.95 (£23.77) and a KINDLE e-book for $9.99, which will be delivered automatically on the day of release.

Get a Kindle!   Soooo useful, especially for portability, internal searching, and for avoiding the dust build up on more ephemeral reading.  HERE

The other day there was an online book presentation (with a couple of video glitches) from Rome involving Pentin, Roberto de Mattei, and the formerly ubiquitous John L. Allen, late of the Fishwrap and now of Crux.  Also joining via video was Ross Douthat of Hell’s Bible.   Ross contributed an interesting point.   When the panelists got onto the idea that the Holy Spirit chooses the Pope, they brought out Ratzinger’s thesis (to which I subscribe) that the Holy Spirit’s role is not so much to choose the next Vicar of Christ, but rather to ensure that the man the Cardinals choose is not a total disaster.  Obviously there are some men that the Holy Spirit would not have choosen who were nevertheless elected.  Ross opined that perhaps the Holy Spirit did, in fact, choose those really bad Popes precisely to chastise the Church.

In that panel discussion there was some speculation about who might succeed Francis.

Ed’s book has an introduction and then individual chapters on 19 different – quite different – cardinals, ranging on a spectrum from the admirable, but in reality probably not papabile (pronounced pa-PA-bee-lay and not pa-pa-BEE-lay… please, have mercy) Raymond Leo Card. Burke, or the impressive Robert Sarah, to Peter Erdo, to Christoph Schönborn, to the nightmare prospect of Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle and the risible Cardinals Turkson on the far left edge of the ecclesial solar system.  There are a few old favorites, such as Scola and Ouellet.  Parolin, now SecState is included.

An important point was mentioned in the panel and in the intro, and I have heard this same point made by cardinals with whom I have spoken.   They don’t know each other.    As Pentin observes, “information is always a central concern for cardinals entering a conclave”.  Francis does not hold consistories, wherein they get to know each other.  This is a horrific disservice to the universal Church and, in my opinion lacking in charity, if not in slyness.  My view is, by atomizing the College of Cardinals, so that the men don’t know each other, a future conclave is more likely rapidly to break into factions around a few highly visible power-players who are in the know, such as the ongoing nightmare Tagle, once head of Caritas International, with hands on the purse strings, and now head of Propaganda Fidei, with hands on the purse strings.  Outliers in the College, such as the guy from Tonga, is more than likely, out of ignorance of the other Cardinals, going to ally himself with someone on the inside.  It seems to me that this is the conscious design of Francis: atomize the College, provide for key players who will coalesce the fragmented members, and marginalize a certain wing of the electors.

Pentin intends his book to be useful for the Cardinal Electors for the next conclave.

Ed also has informative sections in the introduction on the history of the cardinalate, as well as the qualities a Pope ought to possess.  He leans on Benedict XIV, a favorite of mine, and St. Robert Bellarmine, ditto.

The individual chapters on the individual Cardinals are less like narrative biography than they are like encyclopedia articles, with a rapid summary in bullet points in each. I paid special attention whenever the Extraordinary Form was mentioned, as it was for Cardinals Bagnasco, Burke, Erdo, Napier (booo!), O’Malley (meh), Ouellet, Parolin (meh), Piacenza, Ravasi (booo!), Sarah, Schönborn, Scola, Zuppi.

The review copy I received indicates in the Table of Contents that there should be an index.  My review copy did not have an index.  That’s a fault.  This is probably what is holding up ultimate publication and release.  However, I have been looking at it in a PDF format, so I can do searches.

It was published by Sophia Press, which does excellent work.

US HERE – UK HERE

 

Posted in Conclave, The Coming Storm, The Drill | Tagged , ,
18 Comments

ASK FATHER: Can a Roman Catholic in good conscience date a Sedevacantist?

Posted on 26 June 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

With a tip of the biretta to EOTT for the image!

From a reader….

QUAERITUR:

I have been on Catholic Match and found a lady whose family considers themselves independent Catholics. They attend Mass at the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (CMRI) or SSPV. Can a Roman Catholic in good conscience date a Sedevacantist?

GUEST PRIEST RESPONSE: Fr. Tim Ferguson, Official Parodohymnodist… with a biretta tip to Messers Gilbert and Sullivan

When dating a schismatic you must follow proper protocol,
and not be bothered by tangential or doctrinal folderol.
Confine yourself to criticizing popes whose names are John or Paul.
Be elegiac speaking of Lefebvre’s time in Senegal.

Avoid the steak on Ember Days, but you may drink some alcohol.
And roll your eyes when grumbling about the ugly Nervi Audience Hall.
About the hypostasis she might have a few conflicting views.
But if home-schooled, she’ll know about the square of the hypotenuse.

Some get off course on music, if offended may turn rude and they,
will even contradict norms from Tra le sollicitudine.
In short to date schismatics is not any sort of free for all.
When dating a schismatic you must follow proper protocol.

You must be diligent in speaking of the third Confiteor,
But speculation is allowed on the Cretaceous meteor.
Your Latin knowledge need not be complete or even practical,
but your pronunciation must be straight ecclesiastical.

If ever cornered, scapulars can be used as a last defense
to prove your solid Catholic bona fides with the least offense.
And then just hum introits in a mode that’s hypolydian,
whilst citing the Raccolta , but not e’er the Enchiridion.

Your coal on St. Nick’s feast day may be lignite or bituminous.
Your rosary myst’ries must never include the novel luminous.
A coat and tie are proper dress for outdoor games of volleyball,
when dating a schismatic, you must follow proper protocol.

In fact, if you can tell the year by looking at Montini’s lobes,
or guess the provenance of bishops just by looking at their robes,
if such affairs like vespers or novenas you’ve grown weary at,
and if you call the chancery a left wing commissariat,

When you know that modern phil’s gone on some loony trajectory,
and you have questions of affairs in Father Lovebead’s rectory,
you might not be in need of a retreat or a sabbatical.
You may just be aligning with your date, the hot schismatical.

I would suggest a sit down with your pastor or a trusted priest,
or someone clearly orthodox and truly faithful at the least.
But if you choose to try and woo a nice schismatic gal at all,
remember that in dating, you must follow proper protocol.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, HONORED GUESTS, Lighter fare, Our Catholic Identity, Parody Songs | Tagged , ,
22 Comments

ASK FATHER: What to do with old occult objects after repentance and confession?

Posted on 26 June 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

In my past life, I dealt with occult things, specifically sigils.

I have since reverted and been absolved of all related sins, but yesterday came across an old journal with some sigils in it from that time.

Do I need to do anything in particular with the journal, or can I just shred it?

First, I am so glad that you got yourself to confession and gave up all that dangerous demonic stuff.

Occult involvement can open up the door to demons, who then claim the right to attach to objects, places and people.  Their bond has to be broken.

In the case of possible attachment of demons to that journal, if you can, find a priest who is able to read Title XI, ch. 3 of the Rituale Romanum over the object before burning it. Then the ashes should be thrown into running water, like a river.

If some object can’t be burnt, as in the case of metal or stone amulets, etc., break the thing so that its form is gone, and then throw the parts into a river.

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

ASK FATHER: Books on the history of the traditional Roman Rite

Posted on 25 June 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

I am looking for a book which might be a sort of Cliffs Note version of Jungmann’s two-volume History of the Roman Rite. Would you know of and be able to recommend any such book?

Hmmm… there isn’t such a thing.  And you can do better than Jungmann, whose views were a little off on some points.

I highly recommend these two books:

The Traditional Mass: History, Form, and Theology of the Classical Roman Rite by Michael Fiedrowicz.

US HERE – UK HERE

Nothing Superfluous: An Explanation of the Symbolism of the Rite of St. Gregory the Great by Fr. James W. Jackson

US HERE – UK HERE

Those are essential reading.

By extension, so are these:

The Heresy of Formlessness: The Roman Liturgy and Its Enemy (Revised and Expanded Edition) by Martin Mosebach

US HERE – UK HERE

Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness: Why the Modern Age Needs the Mass of Ages by Peter Kwasniewski

US HERE – UK HERE

And in the matter of liturgy and liturgical reform…

The Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Ratzinger

US HERE UK HERE

The Reform of the Roman Liturgy: Its Problems and Background by Klaus Gamber

US HERE UK HERE

Turning Towards the Lord by Uwe Michael Lang

US HERE UK HERE

 

 

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged , , ,
9 Comments

YOUR URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS

Posted on 25 June 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

PLEASE use the sharing buttons! Thanks!

Registered here or not, will you in your charity please take a moment look at the requests and to pray for the people about whom you read?

Continued from THESE.

Let’s remember all who are ill, who will die soon, who have lost their jobs, and who are afraid.

I get many requests by email asking for prayers. Some are heart-achingly grave and urgent.

As long as my blog reaches so many readers in so many places, let’s give each other a hand. We should support each other in works of mercy.

If you have some prayer requests, feel free to post them below.

You have to be registered here to be able to post.

I still have a pressing personal petition.

ALSO… I’ve been in touch with a friend, T, who asked for prayers “to save my marriage and family”.   I’d appreciate it if you good people would CONTINUE to ask the Holy Family all to intercede.  I have reason to believe that there is demonic interference because of the involvement of a third party who is a busy-body and trouble-maker.

Posted in Urgent Prayer Requests |
17 Comments