Fr. Z's Blog | Formerly entitled: "What Does The Prayer Really Say?" – Clear, straight commentary on Catholic issues, liturgy and life by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf o{]:¬)

OLDIE PODCAzT 87 (2009): The Pentecost Sequence dissected – Veni Sancte Spiritus

Posted on 4 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Pentecost_Ingeborg_Psalter_c_1195_sm Here is an oldie PODCAzT made back in 2009. Tempus fugit.

___

I started this one thinking that I could make a fast audio project and then move on. Ha!

In this PODCAzT I dissect the Pentecost Sequence, Veni Sancte Spiritus, also used during the Octave of Pentecost in the traditional Roman calendar.

I give you some background on what a sequence is, what an octave is and then we start drilling.

First we hear the Latin text and a good translation. Then see start looking at the structure of the prayer.

That is when things get interesting. I found a few things I had never noticed.

This is a profound glimpse at mystery, folks.

This is the Roman Rite at her finest.

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Posted in Linking Back, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, PODCAzT | Tagged Pentecost, Sequence, Veni Sancte Spiritus
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The spellbinding Romanos the Melodist on the Holy Spirit

Posted on 4 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A Patristic moment on the Holy Spirit.

The spellbinding Romanos the Melodist (+6th c.) has this about our praise of the Spirit. Amazing imagery:

[…]

Now those who before were fishermen have become skilled speakers.
Now those who once
stood by the shores of lakes are orators, and clear ones.
Those who previously used to mend their nets
now unravel the webs of orators
and make them worthless with simpler utterances.
For they speak one Word, instead of many,
they proclaim one God, not one of many.
The One as one they worship, a Father beyond understanding,
a Son consubstantial and inseparable, and like to them
the All-Holy Spirit.

Was it not then given them to overcome all
through the tongues they speak?
And why do the fools outside strive for victory?
Why do the Greeks puff and buzz?
Why are they deceived by Aratos the thrice accursed?
Why err like wandering planets to Plato?
Why do they love debilitated Demosthenes?
Why do they not consider Homer a chimera?
Why do they go on about Pythagoras,
who were better muzzled?
Why do they not run believing to those to whom has appeared
the All-Holy Spirit.

Brothers, let us sing the praise of the tongues of the disciples
because, not with elegant words,
but with divine power they caught all mortals in their nets,
because they took up His Cross like a rod,
because they used words again as lines and fished the world,
because they had the Word as a sharp hook,
because the flesh of the Master of all things became for them
a bait, not hunting to bring death,
but drawing out to life those who honor and glorify
the All-Holy Spirit.

[On Pentecost]

One of my favorite lines in all of Scripture is John 21:3: Simon Peter said to them, “I’m going fishing.”

Posted in Patristiblogging, Patristic Rosary Project | Tagged Patristiblogging, Romanos the Melodist
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3 June – St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs, victims of homosexual depravity

Posted on 3 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

While today is, in the traditional calendar of the Roman Rite, the Vigil of Pentecost, in the Ordinary Form calendar today is the feast of St. Charles Lwanga and companions, murder victims and martyrs of homosexual depravity.

Today we might contemplate the various ways in which the State is encroaches in our lives and tries to force us to do things that are repugnant to nature and to God’s laws.

Today we might ask God to forgive and convert all those who in any way have contributed to or succumbed to any aspect of what is rightly called toxic “gender theory” and called demonic, due to its origin. More on that HERE and HERE and HERE.

Today is the feast day of a saint, who died as a martyr especially because he resisted a sodomite king, who was furious that he and many children wouldn’t have homosexual sex with him.

St. Charles Lwanga and many other martyrs died between 1885 and 1887 in Uganda. They were beatified in 1920 and canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1964.

In 1879 the White Fathers were working successfully as missionaries in Uganda. They were, at first well received by King Mutesa.

Then there came a new pharaoh, as it were.

Mutesa died and his son, Mwanga, took over. He was a ritual pedophile.

Charles Lwanga, a 25 year old man who was a catechist, forcefully protected boys in his charge from the king’s sodomite advances.

The king had murdered an Anglican Bishop and tried to get his page, who was protected by Joseph Mukasa, later beheaded for his trouble. On the night of the martyrdom of Joseph Mukasa, Lwanga and other pages sought out the White Fathers for baptism. Some 100 catechumens were baptized.

A few months later, King Mwanga ordered all the pages to be questioned to find out if they were being catechized. 15 Christians 13 and 25 identified themselves. When the King asked them if they were willing to keep their faith, They answered in unison, “Until death!”

They were bound together and force marched for 2 days to Namugongo where they were to be burned at the stake. On the way, Matthias Kalemba, one of the eldest boys, exclaimed, “God will rescue me. But you will not see how he does it, because he will take my soul and leave you only my body.” He was cut to pieces and left him by the road.

When they reached Nanugongo, they were kept tied together for seven days while the executioners prepared the wood for the fire.

On 3 June 1886 (that year the Feast of the Ascension… therefore a Thursday), Charles Lwanga was separated from the others and burned at the stake. The executioners burnt his feet until only the charred stumps remained. He survived. His tormentors promised that they would let him go if he renounced his Faith. Charles refused saying, “You are burning me, but it is as if you are pouring water over my body.” They set him on fire.

As flames engulfed him he said in a loud voice, “Katonda! – My God!”

His companions were also burned together the same day. They prayed and sang hymns.

Charles Lwanga and companions died for their Faith and because they resisted the intrinsically evil of homosexual sex.

It is probable that the African members of the Synod of Bishops coming up this October will be strong defenders of the Church’s teachings and practices against the bizarre innovations which may be proposed by certain other members.

Charles Lwanga, pray for us… pray for Ireland… pray for these United States.

Katonda!

UPDATE:

Posted in Hard-Identity Catholicism, Modern Martyrs, Saints: Stories & Symbols, Sin That Cries To Heaven | Tagged demonic gender ideology, gender theory, homosexual agenda, homosexualists, St. Charles Lwanga, toxic gender theory
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10 September 1957 – Pius XII to Jesuits

Posted on 2 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Not amused

A priest friend of mine sent me the text of an Allocution to Jesuits made by Pius XII on 10 September 1957 (AAS 49 – pp. 802-812). I haven’t found it in English and I don’t have the time today to render it for you, but here are a couple savory bits.

Pius is clearly concerned that the Jesuits are drifting from their moorings. He reminds them of their Founder’s ideals for them and the special vows they make. They are to be especially obedient, hierarchical, sound in doctrine, austere and detached from worldly things. Note especially:

Sane inter praeclara facinora maiorum vestrorum, quibus iure gloriamini quaeque aemulari contenditis, illud ceteris praestat, vestram nempe Societatem, Cathedrae Petri quam intime adhaerentem, doctrinam a Pontifice illius Sedis, ad quam «propter potentiorem principalitatem necesse est omnem convenire Ecclesiam, hoc est eos qui sunt undique fideles» propositam, semper intactam custodire, docere, defendere, promovere conatam esse; nec quidquam quod periculosam vel non satis probatam novitatem sapiat tolerare.

[…]

Hanc autem laudem rectitudinis doctrinae et fidelitatis in obedientia Christi Vicario debita, nemo a vobis tollat; nec locus sit inter vos cuidam superbiae «liberi examinis», heterodoxae potius quam catholicae mentis propriae, qua unusquisque ea etiam quae a Sede Apostolica emanant, ad trutinam proprii iudicii revocare non refugit; nec toleretur coniventia cum quibusdam autumantibus magis ex iis quae fiunt quam ex iis quae fieri debent normas agendi atque ad aeternam salutem contendendi esse desumendas; nec sinantur pro libitu sentire et agere ii quibus disciplina ecclesiastica videatur res antiquata, vanus, ut aiunt, «formalismus», quo quis, ut veritati serviat, se facile eximat oportet. Si enim eiusmodi mens, ab incredulorum coetibus mutuata, in agmine vestro libere serperet, nonne brevi inter vos reperirentur indigni et infidi filii vestri Patris Ignatii, quamprimum e corpore vestrae Societatis resecandi?

[…]

HA! And if they were to get rid of harmful elements quamprimum… as soon as possible… from their own body, does it not stand to reason that, if they don’t do that, the Church should – quamprimum – get rid of that harmful foreign body from the body of the Church?

Because Pius seems to have thought that the Jesuits were getting too worldly, he beats them for a couple paragraphs with exhortations not to use to many conveniences or travel much or spend time outside of religious houses. They should practice mortifications. He even says that they should stop using tobacco: “Inter ea annumerandus est usus, qui hac nostra aetate tantopere diffunditur, tabaci, quo variis formis adhibito homines delectantur.” Jesuits have, in the past, had quite the relationship with tobacco, especially as missionaries in the New World and the Far East.

If I may be allowed a digression, I will observe that Leo XIII, St. Pius X, Pius XI and John XXIII used tobacco, either via snuff, cigars or cigarettes. ~~If memory serves, when younger so did Benedict XVI (some say he liked US Marlboros)~~. [UPDATE: Apparently not.] Not to get too far from the point of this post – the swift reformation of the Jesuits or their rapid suppression – my favorite papal tobacco story remains – and always will remain – that of the great Papa Lambertini Benedict XIV (whose Z-SWAG is available HERE – read more about it HERE with explanations). Lambertini was a lover of tobacco in the form of snuff, which was very popular in the 18th century. Decorative snuff boxes of the era are found in every great museum of the world. One day, in a great gesture of friendly papal condescension, Benedict offered to a cardinal a pinch of snuff from The Apostolic Snuff Box. The cardinal declined, saying, “Thank you, no, Your Holiness. I don’t have that vice.” Never at a loss for words, Benedict retorted, “Your Eminence, were it a vice, you would have it.”

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Lighter fare | Tagged Benedict XIV, Jesuits, Pius XII, snuff, tobacco
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WDTPRS – Pentecost (2002MR): Salvation selvage

Posted on 2 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

This magnificent Sunday (which in the Roman Rite’s Extraordinary Form retains its Octave along with the special Communicantes and Hanc igitur) has in the Ordinary Form a Collect rooted in the ancient Gelasian Sacramentary.

Deus, qui sacramento festivitatis hodiernae universam Ecclesiam tuam in omni gente et natione sanctificas, in totam mundi latitudinem Spiritus Sancti dona defunde, et, quod inter ipsa evangelicae praedicationis exordia operata est divina dignatio, nunc quoque per credentium corda perfunde.

I like that defunde and perfunde. Spiffy.

Cor is “heart” and corda “hearts”. Sacramentum translates Greek mysterion. Sacramentum and Latin mysterium are often interchangeable in liturgical texts. Defundo means “to pour down, pour out”. Perfundo, is “to pour over, moisten, bedew”, and “to imbue, inspire” as well as “to dye”.

Exordium means “the beginning, the warp of a web”. Exordium invokes cloth weaving and selvage, the cloth’s edge, tightly woven so that the web will not fray, fall apart. Exordium, also a technical term in ancient rhetoric, is the beginning of a prepared speech whereby the orator lays out what he is going to do and induces the listeners to attend. From Pentecost onward Christ the Incarnate Word, although remote by His Ascension, is the present and perfect Orator delivering His saving message to the world through Holy Church. “He that heareth you, heareth me”, Christ told His Apostles with the Seventy (Luke 10:16). Much hangs on exordia.

LITERAL VERSION:

O God, who by the sacramental mystery of today’s feast do sanctify Your universal Church in every people and nation, pour down upon the whole breadth of the earth the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and make that which divine favor wrought amidst the very beginnings of the preaching of the Good News to flow now also through believers’ hearts.

OBSOLETE ICEL (1973):

God our Father, let the Spirit you sent on your Church to begin the teaching of the gospel continue to work in the world through the hearts of all who believe.

CURRENT ICEL (2011):

O God, who by the mystery of today’s great feast sanctify your whole Church in every people and nation, pour out, we pray, the gifts of the Holy Spirit across the face of the earth and, with the divine grace that was at work when the Gospel was first proclaimed, fill now once more the hearts of believers.

Unity and continuity are keys to this Collect.

The Holy Spirit pours spiritual life into the Body of Christ.

The Holy Spirit wove the early Church together through the preaching of the Apostles and their successors and, in the Church today, extends their preaching to our own time.

The Holy Spirit guarantees our unity and continuity across every border and century.

The Holy Spirit imbues and infuses, tints and dyes the fabric of the Church as He flows through it.

When the Holy Spirit poured over the Apostles, they poured out of the upper room and began to preach in public speeches to people from every nation. The Holy Spirit, in the preaching of the Apostles, began on Pentecost’s exordium to weave together the Church’s selvage, that strong stable edge of the fabric, through the centuries and down to our own day.

The bonds of man and God symbolically unraveled in the Tower of Babel event, when languages were divided (Gen 11:5-8).

Ever since the Pentecost exordium’s “reweaving”, though here and there and now and then there may be rips and tatters, Holy Church’s warp and weft hold true.

Let our hearts and prayers be raised for unity. Sursum corda!

In our Collect we pray that our corda may be imbued with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Sacrum septenarium!

Let them be closely woven into, knit into Holy Church and even over-sewn with her patterns, not ours.

Let our hearts be bounded about by her saving selvage, dyed in the Spirit’s boundless love.

Let us also pray for the unwitting agents of the Enemy of the soul, hanging onto Holy Church’s edge but in such a way that they tear at and fray the Church’s fabric.

Pardon my homographs, but though they be on the fringe, the periphery, they endanger necessary threads, precious souls of our brothers and sisters who through their work of unraveling can be lost in the fray.

When we mesh with the Successor of Peter and remain true in the Faith and charity, our holy selvage and our salvation will not be undone.

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, WDTPRS | Tagged exordium, fabric, Pentecost, selvage, weaving
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D. Madison – Five First Saturdays during Fatima Centenary – Answering Our Lady’s Call

Posted on 2 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Answering Our Lady’s Call

Five First Saturdays at St. Mary’s Church, Pine Bluff, WI

This year we are observing the 100th anniversaries of the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, Portugal, from May to October 1917.

Central to the messages given by the Blessed Virgin Mary during those apparitions, and then for years afterward to one of the “seers” at Fatima, Lucia, was the urgent need of the faithful to do penance and make reparation for sins committed by humanity against Mary’s Immaculate Heart.

The Mother of God said that if her requests were heeded, many disasters could be avoided.

She also made the promise of divine assistance at the time of death to all the faithful who would make the Five First Saturday Devotion, which Pope St. Pius X had approved in 1904.

To respond in a special way to Our Lady’s request and promise, at St. Mary’s in Pine Bluff there will be for five months – from June to October – an explicit and convenient opportunity to help people fulfill the Five First Saturday Devotion specifically requested by the Mother of God.

The conditions for the First Saturday Devotion are:

1) Confession of sins before or within 8 days of receiving Holy Communion,
2) Holy Communion within 24 hours of the First Saturday of the month with the conscious intention of making reparation for sins which offend Mary’s Immaculate Heart,
3) recitation of a chaplet (5 decades) of the Holy Rosary with the intention of making reparation for sins,
4) 15 minutes of meditation on one, some, or all of the Mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation for sins.

Schedule:

3 June – Vigil of Pentecost
1 July – Feast of the Most Precious Blood
5 August – Feast of the Dedication of St. Mary Major
2 Sept – Votive Mass of Immaculate Heart
7 October – Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

Each Saturday from June to October:

7:30 – Confessions before Mass
8:00 – Mass (Extraordinary Form)
Following Mass:
15 Minute Reflection on Mysteries of the Rosary
Recitation of the Rosary
Confessions

Printed material about the Devotion and a special “checklist” card will be available.

Rosaries will also be available for use.

The Five First Saturday Devotion can be undertaken alone or with a group. The conditions for the Devotion are not difficult. Nevertheless, the initiative at St. Mary’s is intended to make the undertaking as convenient and explicit as possible – during this 100th anniversary year – for the sake of gaining many graces and answering the unambiguous call for reparation for sins from the Mother of God herself.

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, "How To..." - Practical Notes, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Our Solitary Boast | Tagged D. Madison, Five First Saturdays, Our Lady of Fatima
5 Comments

ASK FATHER: First Mass of a new priest – Requiem?

Posted on 2 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

I have heard that there is an ancient tradition in which a newly ordained priest offers either his first Mass or one of the following Masses for the souls of the faithful departed, specifically for his deceased family members.

I ask because I recently saw some photos of a newly ordained priest (Deo Gratias) from Brazil, offering his first Mass in the OF: black vestments, biretta, etc for the faithful departed.

If you have any insights, thoughts, or information on this, may I ask your opinion? Thank you in advance.

I don’t know how “ancient” that tradition would be, but, yes, there are variations of this practice. It could be a fitting start to priestly ministry.

As far as one of the first Masses being a Requiem is concerned: imagine a new priest, thinking with gratitude about the role that his deceased parents or grandparents and others played in bringing him to the altar. He would, quite properly, want to “return the favor” as it were.

At the same time, any Mass can be offered for the intention of the living or of the dead. A Mass celebrated for the intention of the deceased doesn’t have to be a Requiem Mass.

My hope is that, soon, all newly ordained priests will have the opportunity to celebrate their First Mass in the Extraordinary Form, and even solemnly.

If a newly ordained priest wants to celebrated a Solemn Mass, and were he able to get around a little bit, perhaps we of the TMSM could be of help.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries | Tagged first Mass, requiem
7 Comments

ACTION ITEM! Birettas for Seminarians Project RENEWED!

Posted on 1 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

YOU, dear readers, have supplied over 100 birettas to seminarians. Kudos. Some thank you notes from seminarians with spiffy new birettas HERE and HERE.

Last night after the Pontifical Mass I was chatting with seminarians and learned to my horror that a few of them have their names on the BIRETTA PROJECT LIST and that they have – O the pathos! – been waiting for some love. For pity’s sake – HELP THEM!

What is this project and how does this work?

We want to get as many clerics to use birettas (and all that goes with them – fidelity to doctrine, reverent ars celebrandi, good life choices, solid priestly identity, etc.) as possible.

Seminarians should 1) discern their hat size and then 2) contact the biretta supplier and get their names on a NEED list.
YOU, dear readers, contact the biretta supplier and PAY FOR the birettas which are then distributed.

You remain anonymous to each other.

Seminarians and potential donors…

Contact John in church goods at Leaflet Missal in St. Paul – 651-209-1951 Ext-331.

DO NOT WRITE TO ME TO ASK FOR A BIRETTA! (If a seminarian doesn’t get that straight then… how are your grades?!?)

CONTACT TO JOHN AT LEAFLET.

If John is away, leave a voicemail with your phone number and he will call you back ASAP.

John keeps track of the names of the seminarians and their hat sizes. My involvement would only get in the way of the process. Don’t write to me.

Let’s encourage these men.

Call John and buy a biretta for a seminarian. It’s as easy as that.

There is also a SATURNO FOR CLERICS Project. Ask John about that, too!

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, Seminarians and Seminaries | Tagged birettas
4 Comments

What saint is this?

Posted on 1 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Any ideas?

Posted in Saints: Stories & Symbols | Tagged saint, statue
37 Comments

Pontifical Mass at the Throne in Madison – PHOTOS

Posted on 1 June 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Last night, 31 May, His Excellency Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison and Extraordinary Ordinary, celebrated a Pontifical Mass at the Throne at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Monona for the Feast of the Queenship of Mary. The Mass was in the Roman Catholic Church’s Traditional, Extraordinary Form.

A lot of preparations go into these Masses. There are a lot of moving parts.

Speaking of moving parts… the construction of the portable throne.

In attendance were many priests, seminarians and faithful. The Knights and Dames of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchure of Jersusalem processed in with the bishop as Knights of Columbus provided the Honor Guard. The music included lovely Marian hymns such as Ave Maris Stella, Regina Coeli and, with a great thunder of pipe organ, Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above for the recessional. The Ordinary of the Mass was the Missa Prima by Fr Michael Haller (+1915) and the Proper in Gregorian chant.

During his sermon, Bishop Morlino, who observed his anniversary of ordination, spoke in a special way about the priesthood.

The Mass was also the occasion of the first use of the new set of white vestments from Rome, embroidered with the coat of arms of both the Diocese of Madison and of Bishop Morlino. The vestments are intended for these complex Pontifical Masses and for ordinations to the diaconate and the priesthood.

This is the church back in the early 1960s, for a Pontifical Mass in the presence of the bishop.