At National Catholic Register the intrepid Ed Pentin has posted at there is a 30 minute video documentary in German about Pope Benedict XVI’s life in the Vatican Gardens. It aired on German TV on 3 January. HERE
It is in German, of course.
It is quite beautiful and respectful. There are quite a few images from inside his present residence in the Vatican Garden and a good deal of information about his youth.
Take a moment at least to scan the Media Report article about how the AP (Associated Press) writes about the Catholic Church. HERE
Another reason why alternative Catholic, non-legacy, sites can be important.
From a reader…
QUAERITUR:
I saw someone say that cooking on Sunday violates the third commandment and food for Sunday must be made before Sunday. Is this true ?
No.
As much as we honor our Jewish forbears, we do not keep their strict laws about cooking and sabbath food preparation, bishul.
We should avoid on Sunday unnecessary work, or unnecessary drudgery. If it is necessary we do it.
However, some things that are drudgery for one are a pleasure for another. There are some people who would rather have starving rats chew through their faces while kneeling on glass in salt water while being tormented with horseflies and rap music than do any gardening. This is my attitude toward ironing clothes. Others enjoy gardening, and even ironing, find it relaxing and even meditative.
People should eat on Sundays. We don’t have to do food prep according to rabbinic laws, which permitted some continuation of heat but forbade initiating, by Jews at least, the warming of anything. Chopping vegetables could even have been considered forbidden work. We don’t have these restrictions. We can prep and cook and clean up afterward. Having a family meal on Sunday is a wonderful thing. A measure of cooking is involved.
If one can do some of the cooking and prep the day before to lighten the load, that’s not just okay for Sunday observance, that’s smart cooking.
Frankly, while cooking a large and complicated meal is a good deal of “work”, it is work I thoroughly enjoy and find therapeutic.
Catholics can cook on Sundays.
In the Novus Ordo calendar Epiphany (which is supposed to be 12 days after Christmas – the reason it is called “Twelfth Night”) is sometimes moved to the Sunday. I suppose that they reasoned that more people would celebrate the important feast that way.
I say that
1) that signals that bishops think that our obligations according to the religion of virtue aren’t that important,
2) the liturgical year isn’t that important, and
3) parishes lose a collection.
In the ancient Western Church and in the East, Epiphany was more important than the relative latecomer Christmas. Epiphany is from the Greek word for a divine “manifestation” or “revelation”. There are many “epiphanies” of God in the Scripture. Think, for example, of the burning bush encountered by Moses.
The Latin Church’s antiphons for Vespers reflect the tradition that Epiphany was thought to be not only the day the Magi came to adore Christ, but also the same day years later when He changed water into wine at Cana, and also when He was baptized by St. John in the Jordan. In each mysterious event, Jesus was revealed to be more than a mere man: He is man and God.
The Epiphany Collect was in the 1962 Missale Romanum and in ancient sacramentaries.
Deus, qui hodierna die Unigenitum tuum stella duce revelasti, concede propitius, ut qui iam te ex fide cognovimus, usque ad contemplandam speciem tuae celsitudinis perducamur.
Stella duce is an ablative absolute not the name of a movie star or pop tart. The adjective hodiernus means “of this day, today’s”. In older Latin, celsitudo is “lofty carriage of the body”. In later Latin it is used like the title “Highness”. In our liturgical context it is a divine attribute, God’s transcendent grandeur, glory.
SUPER LITERAL VERSION:
O God, who on this very day revealed your Only-begotten, a star as the guide, graciously grant, that we, who have already come to know You by faith, may be led all the way unto the beauty of Your glory to be contemplated.
OBSOLETE ICEL (1973):
Father, you revealed your Son to the nations by the guidance of a star. Lead us to your glory in heaven by the light of faith.
NEW CORRECTED ICEL (2011):
O God, who on this day revealed your Only Begotten Son to the nations by the guidance of a star, grant in your mercy, that we, who know you already by faith, may be brought to behold the beauty of your sublime glory.
In Latin prayers species (three syllables) often means “beauty”. It is also a technical, philosophical term about the way the human intellect apprehends things. Species has to do with the relationship between the thing known and our knowing power. A species transforms the mind of the one perceiving a thing. The object we consider acts upon our power of knowing. Simultaneously, the knowing power acts upon the object known. Our knowing power’s active and passive aspects meet in the species and the object of our consideration is known directly, without intermediaries. Easy. Right?
This is what we are praying for, hoping for, living our earthly lives for: to see God face to face, directly and immediately (without intermediaries).
In this life we know God only indirectly, by faith, our reason aided by the authority of revelation and by grace. This is St. Paul’s “dark glass” (1 Cor 13:12) through which we peer toward Him in longing.
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He is the Father’s Beauty.
He is Truth and Beauty and Glory itself.
St. Hilary of Poitiers (d 367) conceived God’s divine attribute of glory as a transforming power which divinizes us by our contact with it. After Moses talked with God in the tent of the Ark, he wore a veil over his face, which became too bright to look at.
We pray today, literally, to be brought “all the way to the beauty of glory (species celsitudinis)” of God “which is to be contemplated”.
His beauty will act on us, increase our knowledge of Him and, therefore, our love for Him … for all eternity. We will be, all the more, the images He intended.
Christ could be understood to be the species celsitudinis of this prayer. Contemplate His truth and beauty. Christ is the true speaker and spoken truth of every prayer of every Mass.
If eternal Beauty transforms us, “divinizes” us, then beauty in this life changes us too.
Could a fostering of beauty in our churches help us reach people today in a way that arguments or other appeals may not?
Our liturgical worship of the Most High God must lead us to encounter beauty, truth, transcendent mystery.
Holy Mass requires the finest architecture, vestments, music – everything – we can summon from human genius, love and labor. What we sing and say and do in church, and the church itself, ought to presage the liturgy of heaven, where the Church Triumphant enjoys already the Beatific Vision. Liturgy should be “epiphany”, wherein we encounter transforming mystery.
We read today from Leo the Great in the Office of Matins:
Honorétur ítaque a nobis sacratíssimus dies, in quo salútis nostræ Auctor appáruit: et quem Magi infántem veneráti sunt in cunábulis, nos omnipoténtem adorémus in cælis. Ac sicut illi de thesáuris suis mýsticas Dómino múnerum spécies obtulérunt, ita et nos de córdibus nostris, quæ Deo sunt digna, promámus.
Let all observance, then, be paid to this most sacred day, whereon the Author of our salvation was made manifest, and as the wise men fell down and worshiped Him in the manger, so let us fall down and worship Him enthroned Almighty in heaven. As they also opened their treasures and presented unto Him mystic and symbolic gifts, so let us strive to open our hearts to Him, and offer Him from thence some worthy offering.
Let us celebrate every Mass in such a way that we become shoeless Moses before the burning bush which is never consumed.
Let Mass make us Magi with sight and mind fixed in longing upon the beautiful, true and yet speechless Word, in whom transcendent glory was both hidden and revealed.
From a reader…
QUAERITUR:
I attended an Extraordinary Form Mass this morning [Sunday] so I could stay home with a sick child while my husband and older children went to a later Novus Ordo Mass at our parish. I forgot until I was almost there that Mass would not be said for the Epiphany. Should I go to an Extraordinary Form Mass tomorrow for Epiphany? The priest said we should do our best to attend the Epiphany Mass tomorrow, so I do not think I am obligated to. It is possible for me to go, but it would be inconvenient for the family, especially since my son is sick. Thank you, Father.
If your son is sick and needs your care, you do not have an obligation to fulfill, Sunday or not. Your obligation is to your son.
However, you fulfill your Mass obligations according to what is laid down in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. The Code says that you fulfill your obligation by attending Mass on the day of obligation itself or on its vigil. If you went to Mass on Sunday you fulfilled your obligation regardless of what Mass formulary was used.
Also, Epiphany, 6 January, which this year falls on a Monday, is not a Holy Day of Obligation in these USA. (All Sundays are, of course.)
If you are in England, Epiphany has been reinstated as a Holy Day of Obligation. When Epiphany falls on Saturday or Monday, in the Novus Ordo calendar it is transferred to the Sunday (which is always of obligation). If Epiphany falls not on Monday or Saturday, in England Epiphany will be of obligation.
Again, if you are impeded from attending Mass because of sickness, or sickness in the family, or bad weather, or invasion by aliens, forest fires, sneak attacks by Cylons, floods and the like, you do not have an obligation to fulfill.
From a reader…
QUAERITUR:
I was very surprised this morning to discover that the regular TLM being celebrated by the pastor was that of the Epiphany rather than the Holy Name. I am not aware of any legal provision for such an “external solemnity.” He referred to his decision to celebrate Epiphany rather than Holy Name in his sermon so it was not an oversight. What say you?
Ah, “external solemnity”, my old nemesis. We meet again.
Yes, in the traditional Roman Rite it is possible to celebrate “externally”, that is “external” to the true date, great feasts, namely, on the nearby Sunday. This should not be an observance instead of the true day. The feast is still to be celebrated on the actual day. However, on a Sunday the Mass formulary – but not the Office – of nearby feast can be used.
The 1962 Rubric, provides for this in 356-361, especially 358 and 359.
The SSPX describes this HERE:
On the Sunday after some Feasts, the feast may be solemnized in a special way with a votive Mass celebrated (the Office remains of the day); this is called an external solemnity. They are permitted but not required. The Sunday is commemorated in the Mass of the External Solemnity unless the solemnity is of a feast of Our Lord.
In the USA, the following feasts may have an external solemnity on the following Sunday: Corpus Christi, the Sacred Heart, and Sts. Peter and Paul. The rubrics allow for an external solemnity on the Sunday either preceding or following these feasts: that of the primary patron of the territory/diocese, that of the primary patron of the institute to which the church belongs (e.g., St. Pius X), and that of the titular of the church. In addition, the Mass of October 7, feast of the Holy Rosary, may be celebrated as an external solemnity on the first Sunday of October (only).
In the case of today, Holy Name, Epiphany has a higher liturgical rank. So, you could have the external celebration today, Sunday.
One could argue – could – that if a Bishops Conference has transferred a feast to a Sunday (which one should argue – should – is a bad idea) then there is an additional justification (to hide behind) for the “external celebration” of feast like Epiphany to Sunday, the Feast of the Most Holy Name. Of course one should then observe Epiphany on 6 January.
So, in the Novus Ordo the Bishops can transfer a feast. In the traditional Roman Rite there may be an observance of a feast on a nearby Sunday, while preserving the true feast day.
Therefore, oh boy, I’m really behind this permitted “external solemnity” thing!
Was there a good point made in the sermon you heard at the Mass that fulfilled your Sunday Obligation? What was it?
There are a lot of people who don’t get many good points in the sermons they must endure.
In the traditional Roman Rite today we celebrated the Most Holy Name of Jesus. In the newfangled calendar most people got a transferred Epiphany. Real Epiphany, aka Twelfth Night, is tomorrow.
For my part…
I take a break from deep musing upon the mystery of the Epiphany to watch an episode of hilarious Upstart Crow [and UK… you probably know about this already… HERE] and have some fishy noodles.
I was going to have ale and pie, but I decided on fermented fish sauce.
Today I have enjoyed my colatura and garlic and parsley together with the show’s running commuter gags, anachronistic shots, neologisms and saucy prancings.
Methinks, this is easy to make. Macerate the minced garlic in the colatura. Uncorking the tiny bottle produced a startling effect.
Cook your pasta and then chill it fast in ice water. Dry it off well. Toss it into your colatura with chopped flat leaf parsley. A little grind of black pepper.
On the Shakespeare theme, I also recently saw All Is True [US HERE – UK HERE].
Well… maybe two episodes of Upstart Crow before returning to Epiphany musings.
[Green reminds me of some vicars general I have met.]
And now that I have your attention… go here..
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST for a young priest diagnosed with ALS – #padresfight
At Epiphany we Latins have – traditionally – chanted a solemn proclamation of the key liturgical dates or movable feasts for the new year of salvation, just begun.
This underscores how these dates and seasons are all interconnected.
The liturgical year is a reflection of and on the mystery of our salvation. And, never forget, the mysteries shape us. We are our rites.
Some liturgical dates are movable. For example Septuagesima, in 2019, fell on 17 February. This beginning of Pre-Lent doesn’t fall on the same date every year because the date of Easter changes each year. In 2020 it will fall on 9 February.
“But Father! But Father!”, you libtards are surely sputtering. “What does this chant sound like? Do it in English like the spirit of Vatican II wanted! But you won’t because YOU HATE VATICAN II!”
We will use Latin on Epiphany, of course.
Here is what it sounds like, in case some deacon or priest out there, less familiar with chant, wants to give it a shot. It sounds rather like the Exultet, sung at the Easter Vigil. The Noveritis is a little awkward in parts.
You can find a printable PDF of the Noveritis 2020 HERE. NB: It has Ascension Thursday on the correct day!
Fathers. Here is how to sing the Noveritis for 2020, on Epiphany. I’ll take it slowly so that you can get it into your ears.
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UPDATE 17 Jan:
Baldwin, NY*
Pine Island, MN (roger Pachamama)
UPDATE 3 Jan:
Ona, WV
Hamilton, OH*
Escanaba, MI
Painswick, Glouchestershire
Round Hill, VA
Prairie Village, KS
Kingsland, GA
Kansas City, MO
Zenica, Bosnia Hercegovina (thanks for the comment about the live Masses)
Manchester, England
Estes Park, CO (good memories of that place)
Toronto, ON* (very kind)
UPDATE 28 Dec:
Last day of the year, but not the last day of the CHRISTMAS SEASON!
Round Rock, TX
LaValle, WI*
Kenai, AK*
Manassas, VA
Kaneohe, HI
Leominster, MA
Garland, TX
Oranmore, Gallway (Thanks for the Masses! Prayers)
Lancaster, PA (Kid art!)
Harrisburg, PA*
Cottage Grove, MN*
Eaton, OH
Escondido, CA (cool stamp)
Hummelstown, PA*
Benton, AR*
Orland Park, IL
KID ART SECTION
Grace (4) and her brother (8) in the snow.
That might be a “minion” with them, or a Jesuit. RUN CHILDREN! RUN!
And I think we have a … spaceship?… and… affectionate robots exchanging gifts? One of them got a new sweater. As all good robots do at Christmas.
UPDATE 28 Dec:
UPDATE….
I missed a few…
Middleton, WI
Fort Atkinson, WI
Cross Plains, WI
Frisco, TX
Wylie, TX
My neighbor stopped in a the P.O. Box for me today and brought more treasures.
Bottesford, Leics. England*
San Francisco, CA*
Orlando, FL
San Mateo, CA (lovely block print)
Orrtanna, PA (Masses… thanks)
Houston, TX
Tiverton, RI
Carlisle, MA
Bloomington, MN
Compton, NH
St. Charles, MO
Appleton, WI
Bartlett, IL
Hammond, IN (great photo)
Waunakee, WI*
Mount Clemens, MI x 2
Letterkenny, Donegal
Powassan, ON
Hamburg, NY
Franklin, IN
New Braunfels, TX* (thanks)
BEdford, IN
Irondale, AL
Salinas, CA (thanks!)
Newman Lake, WA (kid art!)
Rochester, MN
Arlington, TX
Maybrook, NY
Sarasota, FL
East Lyons, CT
Valdosta, GA (73!)
Ottawa, ON (thanks, old friend)
Milton Freewater, OR
Carlsbad, CA (actually there was never a time in my priesthood when I DIDN’T say the TLM!)
Dorchester, MA
Austin, TX
Minneapolis, MN
Calgary, Alberta
Alliston, ON
Austin, TX* (thanks)
St. Paul, MN
Boise, ID
Tokyo (Arigato gozaimashita!)
Macon, GA
Manchester, NH
Palmer, TX
Sydney, NS
Hudson, MA
Overland, KS
Pierz, MN
England (Lewisham?)
Lodi, WI (charyut!)
Pisgah Forest, NC
Wahpeton, ND (congrats!)
Lake Mills, WI
KID ART SECTION
UPDATE 24 Dec:
Irving, TX
Eagan, MN*
Cowplain, Waterlooville, Hampshire
Åbo, Finland
Chester, VT*
Bridgewater, MA
Thousand Oaks, CA
Seaford, NY
Iowa City, IA (daily Mass viewer)
York, PA (kudos for the ordination in the family)
Fort Worth, TX
Yellowstone National Park, WY*
Reeseville, WI* (donation to the TMSM really helps)
Carlsbad, CA
Kenosha, WI*
Tignish, PE
Falmouth, NS
Voorhees, NJ
London, England
Fullerton, CA
Eastsound, WA
St. Paul, MN (Seven Sisters Apostolate!)
Knoxville, TN
Aurora, CO
Montgomery, AL
Boca Raton, FL
Watervliet, NY*
Cudahy, WI*
UPDATE 19 Dec:
The P.O. Box was stuffed in layers, fore and aft!
Clearwater, FL (very cool stamps)
La Crescent, MN
Bowling Green, KY
Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Yuma, AZ (and St. Agnes in St. Paul!)
Stamford, CT (me too)
Oxnard, CA
Round Rock, TX
Savannah, GA (nice photos – they didn’t get bent – miracle)
Wichita, KS*
Montgomery, AL
Menominee Fall, WI (kid art! YAY!)
Portsmouth, HN (more kid art! YAY!)
Indianapolis, IN
Bethesda, MD*
Saint Mary, MO (very kind words)
Wading River, NY
Millersville, MD*
Raleigh, NC*
Monteagle, TN
Shelton, CT
Peosta, IA (and kid art! YAY!)
Mount Airy, GA
Monterey, CA
Elmhurst, IL (keep working on the Latin)
Stockbridge, GA
McKinney, TX
La Jolla, CA (rather… thanks to YOU!)
Wichita, KS*
Vero Beach, FL (I would like to, but that depends on the pastor)
Fulton, MO (prayers)
Denver, CO
Windsor, ON*
St. Paul, MN
Thaxton, VA
Cashton, WI (garlic scapes!)
Knoxville, TN (gosh… brought tears… prayers)
Plano, TX (more prayers)
Algona, IA
Lakeside, CA (73!)
Near Eastbourne, England
Oshkosh, WI
Brea, CA
Port Saint Lucie, FL
Mesa, AZ
Eagle, ID*
Greenville, SC*
Las Vegas, NV*
Hollister, CA
Gravesend, Kent (bis!)
San Francisco, CA
Huntersville, NC (prayers for 6 yr old T)
Bentleigh, VIC (Australia)
Pewamo, MI*
Ashford, Middlesex, England
Rochester, MI
Moscow, ID
Chula Vista, CA
Covina, CA
Schenectady, NY (cool stamps)
A shout out and thanks to
Cody, WY
Foley, AL
Locust Grove, GA
Wow… that took quite a while.
KID ART SECTION
ALL better than the Vatican Nativity scene.
UPDATE 14 Dec:
I picked up another batch.
Everson, WA
Louisville, KY
S. St. Paul, MN
Elkton, MD
Malone, NY
Cavillo, Ags. C.P., Mexico
Lubec, ME
Uppsala, Sweden
San Antonio, TX
Maria Stein, OH
San Antonio, FL (very interesting reading)
Waltham, MA
Roseville, MN*
Columbia, GA*
Gravesend, Kent
Flushing, NY
Indianapolis, IN (cool stamps)
Cincinnati, OH (very cool stamps)
S. Windor, CT
UPDATE 09 Dec:
I received my first Christmas card today!
And so I begin the list of locations…
Arbor Vitae, WI*
Anchorage, AK
Berkey, OH*
Leawood, KS*
Fayetteville, AR
Santa Fe, NM
Bend, OR
Tokyo
Hopewell, NJ*
Menomonee Fall, WI
Middleton, WI
Floral Park, NY
Dubuque, IA*
Kuna, ID
Ocala, FL
San Jose, CA?
Delmar, NY
If you would like to send me Christmas greetings or cards, please send by snail mail, if possible with really cool stamps.
Remember mail?
As I have done in years past, I’ll try to post all the places whence they were mailed from around the world. Keep in mind that if you don’t include your address, I can’t easily do that.
I have a US PO BOX address.
Fr. John Zuhlsdorf
733 Struck St.
PO BOX 44603
Madison, WI 53744-4603
That is the P.O. Box of the Tridentine Mass Society of Madison
PAST ADDRESSES ARE VOID
If you need to send anything that requires a signature, such as gold bars, a Bugatti Chiron, bearer bonds, cases of Pappy Van Winkle, complete Pontifical Mass vestment sets … you know, the usual stuff, get in touch with me for an alternate address.
Please! DO NOT send perishable food items. I am sure they would be wonderful, and neither poisonous nor hallucinogenic… mostly. But, please, just don’t. I can’t get to the P.O. Box everyday.
If you put glitter in the card, I’ll recite the Maledictory Psalms against you. No. Really. I will.
If you send something threatening or illegal, I will turn it in to law enforcement. I’m sorry I have to write that under such a cheery topic, but this is the world we live in, especially in this dreadful year of 2020 with the craziness going on.
I always enjoy the Christmas cards. The notes and letters which describe the year people have had are interesting and, often, moving. I read them all.
And drawings by kids are a hoot.
I look forward to seeing your cards!
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
A Daily Prayer for Priests
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