Ite Rodentes! Hockey, commercials, and an admonition.

Posted on 24 November 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Tonight I’ve tuned into watch the noble, scholar/athlete University of Minnesota Golden Gophers mens hockey team battle the arrogant, effete Irish of the school that honored the most pro-abortion President in history, who worked to destroy our religious liberties and undermined our national security.

Hence, ITE RODENTES!

I have a cousin on the team.  It is pretty strange to hear my rather rare name coming out of the TV.  Tonight they are on NBCSN, in case you want to tune in and either cheer for Minnesota or against Notre Shame.  HERE

MN has a really tough schedule coming up.

However, what I’ve noticed is the commercials… it seems that companies and products are teaming up.  In one man’s electric shaver spot, they teamed up with the upcoming Star Wars movie.  In another, there was a car insurance company paired with a jewelry outlet.

Interesting.

That said, ITE RODENTES!

And to anyone backing the Irish…

GO TO CONFESSION.

(Ditto backers of the Gophers, but for other reasons.)

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Channeling stupid in Sweden

Posted on 24 November 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

How foolish.

I am reminded of scenes from Lord Of The World, Voyage To Alpha Centauri, The Children of Men (the book, not the dopey movie), Eclipse of the Sun (US HERE – UK HERE).

The Church of Sweden (Lutheran) has made a suicide pact with the world, the flesh and the Devil.  HERE (Not my translation):

A steering group within the Church of Sweden has for some time been working on developing a new church manual. This is considered to be should encourage “a more inclusive worship language”. [Google Translate version makes more sense than their brains.] God may now find himself deprived of his male gender – in the sermon referring to God as “he” or “the Lord” joins the new church handbook as a correction of misdemeanor.

[…]

But the proposals also have many advocates within the Swedish Church. The outcome of Thursday’s polls is therefore an open question. How it went, Archbishop Antje Jackelén will tell a press conference on Thursday. Jackelén has himself profiled himself as a renewer of the Swedish Church, among other things. by taking Islam’s creed “Allahu Akbar” as its language and emphasizing that Jesus of Christians should not be set higher than Islam’s prophet Muhammad.

Social excitement has not been able to figure out [Google can be amusing!] if there are corresponding proposals to make Jesus gender neutral and remove names like “he” and “human son” from the worship vocabulary. It is also unclear if there is a goal at the Swedish Church to implement the same gender changes in the Bible.

Fr James Martin, SJ, has not yet commented.

ICEL has not released its statement of support in accord with the new translation laws… yet.

The head of the Church in Sweden, Archbishop Antje Jackelén.

She looks rather like the grandmother of half the people I grew up with in Minnesota with a really bad hat.

 

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If our “interior cell phone” is always busy because we are “having a conversation” with other creatures, how can God “call us”?

Posted on 24 November 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I find that more and more of my day, when I am at home, is spent in silence.  I have stopped checking the news.  I don’t often listen to music.  Sometimes I listen to audiobooks through Audible or my older generation Kindle.  But, most of the time, it is silent.

Good advice from Robert Card. Sarah in his book, The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise:

We arrive at the knowledge of God by way of causality, analogy, eminence, but also negation: once we affirm the divine attributes, which are known by natural reason (this is the kataphatic way), we must deny the mode of limited realization thereof that we know here below (this is the apophatic way). Silence is an essential part of the apophatic way of gaining access to God, which was so highly prized by the Fathers of the Church, especially the Greeks; this makes them demand silence of arguments when faced with the mystery of God. I am thinking here of Clement of Alexandria, Gregory Nazianzen, and Gregory of Nyssa.

It is nonetheless true that silence is above all the positive attitude of someone who prepares to welcome God by listening. Yes, God acts in the silence. Hence this very important remark by the great Saint John of the Cross in his Maxims on Love: “The Father spoke one Word, which was His Son, and this Word He always speaks in eternal silence, and in silence must It be heard by the soul.” The Book of Wisdom had already noted in this regard the manner in which God intervened to deliver the chosen people from captivity in Egypt: that unforgettable act took place during the night: “For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne” (Wis 18:14). Later, this verse would be understood by Christian liturgical tradition as a prefiguration of the silent Incarnation of the Eternal Word in the crib in Bethlehem.

And so we have to be silent: this is of course an activity and not a form of idleness. If our “interior cell phone” is always busy because we are “having a conversation” with other creatures, how can the Creator reach us, how can he “call us”? We must therefore purify our mind of its curiosities, the will of its plans, in order to be totally open to the graces of light and strength that God wants to give us profusely: “Father, not my will, but yours be done.” Ignatian “indifference” is therefore a form of silence, too.

US HERE – UK HERE

This is the translation of  Le Force du Silence.

In this, the Cardinal gets at something I’ve been talking about for years bow.  The apophatic dimension of participation in, especially, the older, traditional form of Holy Mass.

I think that people today are getting so used to noise and distraction, that they become very uncomfortable indeed in silences.  Couple that with the myriad distractions we have now… is it any wonder that our liturgical worship is – far and wide – the way that it is?  Is it any wonder why some people fight so hard against quite, still traditions and traditional worship?

Advent is coming.  Consider the role of silence in your advent preparations before Advent begins.

By the way, what did Card. Sarah mean by “ignatian indfference”?

The concept of indifference comes from the Spiritual Exercises by St. Ignatius of Loyola.

He wrote in #23

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man and that they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he is created.

From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help him on to his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him as to it.

For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created.

That means that we should be dispassionate about what happens to us as long as it is for the glory of God.

We have strong attachments of people, place and things and those attachments can mislead us away from salvation, especially because of our passions and appetites which are difficult to master in our fallen state. Salvation and God’s will must be the highest good in our lives. Rather than be indifferent to God and very partial about created things, Ignatius said we must school ourselves to be indifferent to created things and partial about God. If created things hinder us, they must go, even to the point of not being overly concerned about whether or not we are healthy or ill, having a possession or not having it, and so forth. This doesn’t mean that we are to be cold, aloof and without joy, as if we were Vulcans. It means preferring nothing to God and being interested in things only insofar as they help us to heaven and not hinder.

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WDTPRS – Christ the King (2002MR): The world will be consumed in fire – Act of Consecration Indulgence

Posted on 24 November 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

In the Novus Ordo calendar, this Sunday – the last of the liturgical year – is Christ the King.

In the traditional calendar we celebrated Christ the King on the last Sunday of October.

Remember that there is an Act of Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that can – SHOULD – be recited in every parish.  There is a plenary indulgence available.  HERE

Each year Holy Church presents to us the history of salvation, from Creation to the Lord’s Coming (the First and also the Final).

Sunday’s Solemnity is an anticipation of the season of Advent, which  focuses on the different ways in which the Lord comes to us, especially in the Second Coming.

At this time of year (November) we are also considering the Four Last Things: death, judgment, heaven and hell.   We are praying for the Poor Souls in Purgatory in a special way this month.

The Solemnity of Christ the King brings to our attention the fact that the Lord is coming precisely as King and Judge not merely as friend or brother or favorite role-model.

In the great Dies Irae prayed at Requiem Masses for so long (and still today), Christ is identified as “King of Fearful Majesty” and “Just Judge”.

Consider today’s feast in light of what we read in 2 Peter 3: 10-12:

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire!”

Not exactly hugs and fluffy lambs for everyone.

Christ Jesus will judge us all, dear friends, and submit all things to the Father (cf. 1 Cor 15:28). 

Having excluded some from His presence, our King, Christ Jesus, will reign in majestic glory with “the many” who accepted His gifts and thereby merited eternal bliss.

COLLECT – (2002MR):

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui in dilecto Filio tuo, universorum Rege, omnia instaurare voluisti, concede propitius, ut tota creatura, a servitute liberata, tuae maiestati deserviat ac te sine fine collaudet.

While this Collect is of new composition for the Novus Ordo, it is similar to what was in the 1962 Missale Romanum for this feast with variations in the second part: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui dilecto Filio tuo universorum Rege, omnia instaurare voluisti: concede propitius; ut cunctae familiae gentium, peccati vulnere disgregatae, eius suavissimo subdantur imperio… “so that all the families of peoples, torn apart by the wound of sin, may be subject to His most gentle rule.”  That’s a different message by far.  Christ isn’t just the eschatological King who will reign over all things at the end of the World.  He is King here and now, of all peoples and nations… now.

Today’s Collect demonstrates the theological shift in many of the Latin prayers in the Novus Ordo.

Universus is an adjective and universorum a neuter plural, “all things.”  Since we have another “all things” in omnia I will make universorum into “the whole universe.”  Our Latin ears perk up when we hear compound verbs (verbs with an attached preposition like sub or de or cvm).

In our own copies of A Latin Dictionary. Founded on Andrews’ edition of Freund’s Latin dictionary. revised, enlarged, and in great part rewritten by. Charlton T. Lewis, Ph.D. and. Charles Short, LL.D. – (aka Lewis & Short or L&S) we find that de-servio expands the meaning of servio to mean “serve zealously, be devoted to, subject to.”  Col-laudo, more emphatic than simple laudo, means “to praise or commend very much, extol highly.”

You veterans of WDTPRS know how maiestas is synonymous with gloria which in early Latin writers such as Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose and in early liturgical texts, the equivalent of biblical Greek doxa and Hebrew kabod.   This “glory” and “majesty” is God’s own transforming power, a sharing of His life, that transforms us into what He is in an everlasting “deification”.

Instauro is a wonderful word which deserves more attention: “to renew, repeat, celebrate anew; to repair, restore; to erect, make”.  It is synonymous with renovo.  Etymologically instauro is related to Greek stauros. Turning to a different L&S, the immensely valuable Liddell & Scott Greek Dictionary, we find that stauros is “an upright pale or stake.”   Stauros is the word used in the Greek New Testament for the Cross of Jesus.  Also the word immediately makes us think not only of the motto on the coat-of-arms of Pope St. Pius X, but also the origin of that motto Ephesians 1:10: “For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Eph 1:9-10 RSV).  There have been, by the way, some changes in the Latin texts of this passage.  The older Vulgate says “instaurare omnia in Christo” while the New Vulgate says “recapitulare omnia in Christo”.

Recapitulare is related to Latin caput (“head”) and was deemed by the scholars behind the New Vulgate as a better translation of the Greek anakephalaioô, “to sum up the argument.”  This harks to the headship of Christ over the Body of the Church and expresses that He is the Final Statement, the Conclusion of All Things.  At any rate, in 1925 and in the 1960’s when the older version of Vulgate was in use, the Collect had instaurare and not recapitulare.

Why all this about recapitulare?

The phrase, “renew/reinstate all things in Christ” points to the Kingship of Jesus.  In everything that Jesus said or did in His earthly life, He was actively drawing all things and peoples to Himself.

In the time to come, when His Majesty the King returns in gloria and maiestas this act of drawing-to-Himself (cf. John 12:32) will culminate in the exaltation of all creation in a perfect unending paean of praise.

In the meantime, by virtue of baptism and our integration into Christus Venturus (Christ About-To-Come), we all share in His three-fold office of priest, prophet, and also king.  We have the duty to proclaim His Kingship by all that we say and do.  We are to offer all our good works back to Him for the sake of His glory and the expectation of His Coming.

This glorious restoration (instaurare) is possible only through the Lord’s Cross (Greek stauros).  The Cross is found subtly in the midst of this Collect, where it is revealed as the pivot point of all creation (creatura).

LITERAL VERSION:

Almighty eternal God, who desired to renew all things in Your beloved Son, the King of the universe, graciously grant that the whole of creation, having been freed from servitude, may zealously serve Your majesty and praise You greatly without end.

The first objective of our participation in the Church’s sacred rites is to praise God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and give God glory.  This is what we owe by the virtue of religion.

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Liturgical and Biblical Latin is rich with words and phrases which exalt and express praise of God.  In fact, the concepts of “glory” and “majesty” are nearly interchangeable in this light.  We, on the one hand, render up honor and glory to God in a way external to God.  On the other hand, glory and majesty are also divine attributes which we in no way give Him, which He has – or rather is – in Himself by His nature.

When we come into His presence, even in the contact we have with Him through the Church’s sacred mysteries, His divine attribute of splendor or glory or majesty, whatever you will, has the power to transform us.  His majestic glory changes us.

This MYSTERY changes us.

So, it is right to translate these lofty sounding attributions for God when we raise our voices in the Church’s official cult.

OBSOLETE ICEL (1973):

Almighty and merciful God, you break the power of evil and make all things new in your Son Jesus Christ, the King of the universe. May all in heaven and earth acclaim your glory and never cease to praise you.

CURRENT ICEL (2011):

Almighty ever-living God, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of the universe, grant, we pray, that the whole creation, set free from slavery, may render your majesty service and ceaselessly proclaim your praise.

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Thanksgiving Leftovers, Friday, and YOU

Posted on 24 November 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

On this Friday after Thanks giving, you might want to review these oldie posts:

Enjoy!

How was your Thanksgiving Day?

Mass?  Was there a sermon?  Did Father say anything memorable (and good).

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PRAYER SUGGESTION: Archbp. Carroll’s “Prayer for Government” & Pres. @realDonaldTrump’s 2017 Proclamation

Posted on 23 November 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

washingtonprayingFathers, you might want to have everyone pray this after Mass on major public holidays in these USA.  This, and other prayers, are deeply needed.

The following prayer was composed by John Carroll, Archbishop of Baltimore, in 1791. He was the first bishop appointed for the United States in 1789 by Pope Pius VI. He was made the first archbishop when his see of Baltimore was elevated to the status of an archdiocese. John was a cousin of Charles Carroll of Maryland, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

This needs no translation for Catholics who love their country!

PRAYER FOR GOVERNMENT

We pray, Thee O Almighty and Eternal God! Who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy, that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of Thy Name.

We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life, our chief bishop, Pope Francis.,the Vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of his Church; our own bishop, N., [where I am “Robert”] all other bishops, prelates, and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise amongst us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people into the ways of salvation.

We pray Thee O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.

We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state , for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.

We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.

Finally, we pray to Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy servants departed who are gone before us with the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace; the souls of our parents, relatives, and friends; of those who, when living, were members of this congregation, and particularly of such as are lately deceased; of all benefactors who, by their donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the decency of divine worship and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance. To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and everlasting peace, through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.

I became familiar with this moving prayer at my home parish of St. Agnes in St. Paul (MN) where it was recited after all Masses on civic holidays of the USA, such as 4 July and Thanksgiving.

Americans among the readership might print it and bring it to your parish priests and ask them to use it after Mass on national holidays.

Finally, you might be interested in Pres. Trump’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation for 2017.

Among other things it says:

Today, we continue to celebrate Thanksgiving with a grateful and charitable spirit.  When we open our hearts and extend our hands to those in need, we show humility for the bountiful gifts we have received.  In the aftermath of a succession of tragedies that have stunned and shocked our Nation — Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria; the wildfires that ravaged the West; and, the horrific acts of violence and terror in Las Vegas, New York City, and Sutherland Springs — we have witnessed the generous nature of the American people.  In the midst of heartache and turmoil, we are grateful for the swift action of the first responders, law enforcement personnel, military and medical professionals, volunteers, and everyday heroes who embodied our infinite capacity to extend compassion and humanity to our fellow man.  As we mourn these painful events, we are ever confident that the perseverance and optimism of the American people will prevail.

We can see, in the courageous Pilgrims who stood on Plymouth Rock in new land, the intrepidness that lies at the core of our American spirit.  Just as the Pilgrims did, today Americans stand strong, willing to fight for their families and their futures, to uphold our values, and to confront any challenge.

firstcontcongresslarge (1)

Continental Congress at Prayer

The opening prayer session of the 1st Continental Congress was about 3 hours long.

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ASK FATHER: “How do you keep your energy up for the fight?”

Posted on 22 November 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

CLICK!

From a priest…

Someone forwarded me your article responding to Fr. Gerald J. Bednar’s article. First of all: thank you! :)

But second: how do you keep your energy up for the fight?

Many who believe the 1 true Faith, you have no need to preach to… and those who do not… well, I have more luck convincing my cup of ice tea because of willful blindness. I bounce between boundless energy to take this to the end, and deflated frustration. God bless you!

Let me try my hand at few points, not in logical order.

  • I am now getting pretty grey. As I contemplate my age and the time left to me, and how much I might have done but didn’t, and how much I have done but could have done better, and how much good I’ve accomplished by God’s good grace and what it might mean for others and myself, I ponder more and more my death and judgment and what Paul wrote in his Second Letter to Timothy … this is a reading that comes up often in the Extraordinary Form:

    I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming, and his kingdom: Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry. Be sober. For I am even now ready to be sacrificed: and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day: and not only to me, but to them also that love his coming.

  • Reflecting on the Four Last Things and the duties of your state in life can be a strong motivational moment.
  • In John 6, when people were abandoning Christ because of His hard teachings, He asked His apostles if they, too, were going to leave Him.   Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.”  To stray from Christ and His Church – which is what so many are doing even within Holy Church’s formal confines now – is unthinkable.  So, we stick to him.
  • Time at the batting cage and at the shooting range is time well spent and quite therapeutic.
  • We have set our hands to the plow.   It is human to be weary.  The Enemy can take advantage of that.  We can flag and fall down.  We have to get back up.  We have – I’ll speak for myself – I have many defects and, because in this life I can see only as if through a glass, darkly, I can get confused or tempted to give up.  But repetita iuvant.  Repeated things help.  We say our prayers and their content sinks in and becomes a part of us.  Say the Office.  Say the Rosary.  Learn the TLM, which will teach you more about priesthood.  We make affirmations and act of faith, hope, charity and contrition, over and over.  So, when times are hard, we have a path to follow and an interior compass and gyroscope to get us out the the dark place.  Also, once you’ve been knocked around for a bit longer than I am guessing you – with your “boundless energy” – have been, you’ll know that you can keep going.
  • We have the grace of Orders, through which God will help us when we call upon His help.  Just as the baptized and confirmed can do, just as spouses can call up the graces that flow from matrimony, we can invoke our Holy Orders.
  • My old pastor, Msgr. Schuler, used to say, “When you’re right, you can’t be wrong.”  We’re right.
  • A couple years ago, at an ordination, The Extraordinary Ordinary, Bp. Morlino, told the ordinands about Job and his tribulations.  In the parish they might experience some hard times.  When the criticisms or the blow back comes from doing our jobs, the bishop said, we have to say with Job, “Blessed by the name of the Lord!”
  • By preaching the truth, we fulfill our duty in the sight of God and men, for the sake of souls.  One of those souls is our own.  We preach the truth to save our own souls, whether people listen or not.  God help us to find, in the charity that seeks always the good of the other, the right words and manner at the right moment!  Nevertheless, we have an obligation to fulfill.  Of course we also have to remember what Augustine said, when he preached to his people a hard message.  He said that he was going to preach and save his soul whether they listened or not and were, thereby, not saved.  But he added, “Nolo esse salvus sine vobis… I don’t want to be saved without you.”
  • The priest, like Christ, is both the priest who offers the Sacrifice and, simultaneously, the Victim being sacrificed.  Christ poured Himself out.  So must we.  He fills us up again when we get ourselves out of the way.  (Yet another reason for the TLM and ad orientem worship.)
  • Even as I type, I have on a shirt with the time honored phrase containing much wisdom, “Embrace The Suck!”  Things will go sideways at some point.  Work through it.   Also, if things are going smoothly for a long time and people aren’t shooting at you, then you aren’t over the target.  [No, I don’t always wear my cassock to write these posts.]
  • Have purely clerical gatherings with good booze, steaks and great conversation.
  • Christ has not lied to us.  We know that He is our Savior and our God and that the Catholic Church is the one, indefectible Church that He Himself founded.  We know that when we act in and for His Church, each priest acts as alter Christus and in persona Christi.  If we are faithful He will give us every actual grace we need to fulfill our small part in His great plan.  And when we fall down or fail or flag, He raises us back up with His own hand.  And then there is His Mother, Queen of Priests who is always with us.  And there is St. Joseph, the Terror of Demons,  by us.  And there is St. Michael and our own Guardian Angels ever near us.  And there are the saints in heaven… And… And… And…. We are not alone.
  • Father, we just persevere.  Put on your big boy underwear and get back to work.

Frankly, I am grateful for this email.  Right now.

I have been flagging a bit myself, lately.

A lot of really bad news comes to my mailbox.   There is an endless flow of stupid surrounding us.  There is growing confusion and division as camps within the Church (and wider society) separate.   The Evil One is rampant in the Church like the roaring lion seeking whom he might devour.  There are also many good things happening, quietly and slowly.  But I, too, have been frustrated lately.

Moreover, I am pretty well convinced that I’ve been under attack in a particular way by the Enemy of the soul.  I’ve chosen a new course of spiritual counter-measures as a result and I’m fighting back.  To put it ironically but iconically, I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.

For example, I made a list of people for whom I will pray in a specific way to St. Joseph, along the lines of the Bux Protocol™.    I going to make greater use of Holy Water, blessed salt, etc.  I just picked up from the shop my newly framed prayers for before and after Mass that priests can/should recite.

I will, of course, GO TO CONFESSION!  Sacramentals and devotions are one thing, but that’s a sacrament.   The devil can go back to hell.

So, dear Father, persevere.  When life gets rough, you are also being offered great graces.

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ASK FATHER: Priest threatened with “Double Excommunication”

Posted on 22 November 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

The 21 Nov. 2017 editions of Rorate Caeli and Eponymous Flower both posted that Fr. Minutella is facing Double Excommunication by the Vatican. He is in a dispute over Amoris Laettia.

If you have time, can you explain what Double Excommunication is?

Yes, indeed. Double Excommunication™ is the ecclesiastical equivalent of Super Double Secret Probation (SDSP). Just as SDSP is applied only to non-conformist members of college fraternities, so too, Double Excommunication is applied only to non-conformist members of the clerical fraternity who refuse to say that 2+2=5.  Pour encourager les autres.

But seriously…

The priest in question, Fr. Alessandro Minutella belongs to the Archdiocese of Palermo in Sicily.  He has been the subject of negative TV coverage in Italy.  I watched a video he made and posted on YouTube.  He described with great passion his situation from his point of view.  [HERE – in Italian – I’ve seen a couple other videos, too.  He doesn’t mince words.]  However, that’s one side of a story which I am sure is very complicated.  I’m not saying I don’t believe what he said.  I simply don’t understand all the details well enough to say much more than … 2+2=4… not 5.

Fr. Minutella is really jammed up, and I’m pretty concerned for him.  I’m sure he could use lots of prayers.

That said… to the question:

There is no such thing as “double excommunication” as a technical term.  What this means is that two excommunications, for separate issues, would be declared.

However, all excommunications depend on certain conditions.

First, the offense committed must involve grave matter, must be a mortal sin, and it must be punishable by the censure of excommunication. There are not many of those offenses.

There is the possibility that some bad behavior not described in the few specific cases in Canon Law could be punishable by a “just penalty”, which could include even excommunication.  In those cases less severe censures are usually imposed first, with the hope that that will be enough to affect a change.  Such a case of a “just penalty” might include causing serious scandal or confusion by using social media or means of mass communication.  (Think pro-abortion politicians, etc.)

Again, there is a lot that I don’t know about the case of the priest in question, but it seems  that his case is discussed all over Italy, and not just in his diocese.  Thus, he has been told by the Congregation for Clergy and his archbishop, that he had to make some public, precise statements of fidelity and post them on social media and that if he didn’t he would incur two excommunications.  Fr. Minutella said he already did make declarations of fidelity in writing and that he wouldn’t do it again in the way they demanded.  I suspect that the censures were declared.

I don’t know what Fr. Minutella’s situation is right now.  The video that I saw was from a couple weeks ago.

Anyone who is excommunicated has the right to appeal.   If an excommunicated person makes an appeal to a higher authority (than the one who imposed the censure), then the excommunication is suspended while the process of the appeal is going on.

I hope that those involved can work this out justly and charitably, for the good of souls.

Please, Mary, Mother of the Church, Queen of the Clergy, intercede for all involved!

If you want to learn more about excommunication – one of the least understood points of the Church’s life – Ed Peters’ book is really helpful.

US HERE -UK HERE

Click!

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28 November 2017 – @MadisonDiocese – Confirmation in the Traditional Rite

Posted on 22 November 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

confirmation_tradHis Excellency Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison, has graciously consented to confer the sacrament of Confirmation according to the traditional form of the Roman Rite on the evening of Tuesday, 28 November 2017 at St. Mary’s Church in Pine Bluff, WI.

Bishop Morlino understands that there may be some confirmands from outside of the Diocese of Madison.  However, the opportunity is intended primarily for subjects of the Diocese of Madison.  Anyone outside the diocese should take care that they consult properly and cordially with their local pastors.

Anyone who is interested in being confirmed, should quickly take steps to make contact and send the proper information no later than 20 November.  [If you rush NOW you might be able to do this.]

If you are interested in confirmation for yourself or for your child, please take note of this letter from Bp. Morlino. Click  HERE

If you have not been confirmed, consider the graces you are offered in this wonderful sacrament.

From last year…

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“The ‘uniform’ clued her in to what was happening.”

Posted on 22 November 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

I wanted to let you know of something beautiful that happened just before my mother Alice passed away three weeks ago.  [Let us all pray for Alice and her family.  “Eternal rest grant…”]

Suffice it to say that she had been sick a long time, with dementia, heart problems, and kidney failure, the latter of which was the proximate cause of her death.

While in the hospital the week of October 8th, I decided to have her anointed. The priest who came did not know of her dementia, or of her severe hearing problem. Additionally, she had not called me her son in several months, referring to me as her brother.

Upon seeing the priest enter the room, she smiled. Not knowing of her hearing problems, he asked if she wanted him to hear her confession. She said yes! I left and returned later afterward. She then followed along through the rest of the anointing, and received communion, all while apparently understanding what was happening. After the priest left, she called me her son, and told me that she wished it was over. I had just a few minutes with her before she re-entered the fog of her dementia.

She passed peacefully on November 4th at the age of 88.

I tell you this because I believe it was the ‘uniform’ that clued her in to what was happening. Please make it a point to remind priests and seminarians to wear their collar and ‘uniform’ whenever possible. You never know when you, as a priest, may be the occasion of grace for someone because the person recognized you because of the ‘uniform’.

Yes, Fathers, clothing makes a difference.

This reminded me of an encounter in a hospital with a Hungarian man who was in extremis.  When he saw me come in, he became very agitated, because he knew why I was there.  He had slipped away from any use of English, and Hungarian is not one of my strong languages.  When I began prayers in Latin, he immediately calmed down, joined in with Aves and Pater Noster and made some responses.

This also ties into to the need to teach children prayer by heart, memory, by rote.   Once they are in there, they are theirs.

Finally,

ACTION ITEM! 100 Cassocks for 100 Seminarians

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Just Too Cool, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries | Tagged , ,
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