ASK FATHER: The benefits of sacraments in the state of mortal sin

Posted on 2 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

12_04_VanderWeyden_confirmationFrom a reader…

I’ve recently learned that the graces of the sacrament of marriage are not received until or unless the person is in a state of grace.

Looking back at my own life, how blind and foolish I was, this got me wondering if it’s a similar case for Confirmation. If confirmation is receive in a state of mortal sin, would we not receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and graces until we made a good confession?

This is a good point.  It is important that everyone consider this.

You are right about the graces of sacraments.

There is an old distinction about sacraments of the dead (baptism and penance), and sacraments of the living (the other five).

Sacraments of the dead bring you out of spiritual death (Original sin and actual, mortal sins) into life.

Sacrament of the living are to be received by the spiritually alive, in the state of grace. Otherwise, they don’t bring you all that you need from them, even if they are validly conferred.

For example, a man and woman validly marry but they are in the state of mortal sin. They are validly, truly, married, but they don’t have the actual graces of the sacrament until they are in the state of grace.

Similarly, a confirmand or an ordinand in the state of mortal sin are ontologically changed by their sacraments, that is, they are really and truly confirmed or ordained, but they don’t enjoy all the benefits of being confirmed or ordained which the sacraments confer until they return to the state of grace.  Once they are in the state of grace, everything kicks into gear.

Remember this also for those who are in danger of death, who are sui compos, and who are to receive the sacrament of anointing.

Draw your own conclusions about receiving the Eucharist when not in the state of grace (hint: sacrilege).

So, and this is for everyone:

If you long to live your vocation well, whatever be your state of life, or if you are under fire or struggling or even drowning with problems, then you need all the spiritual aid that the sacraments can give you.  That means, of course, the Eucharist, received in the state of grace.  It also means benefiting from your confirmation character when the challenges come!  It means benefiting from the sacrament of matrimony to help you live your married lives!

Are you aware of yourself as being outside of God’s friendship because of unconfessed mortal sins?

GO TO CONFESSION!

GO TO CONFESSION!

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, GO TO CONFESSION, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Si vis pacem para bellum! | Tagged , , ,
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IN THE WILD! Clement XIV goes to Rhode Island!

Posted on 2 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Our friend “iPadre“, Fr. Jay Finelli, pastor of Holy Ghost in Tiverton, Rhode Island, has wisely received a Papa Ganganelli mug.

17_04_28_mug_Finelli_01

I enjoy your In The Wild shots.

Clement_XVI_Mug_01 Clement_XVI_Mug_02

For all the selections click

>>HERE<<

… and you could have your very own Papa Ganganelli mug!

Surprise Jesuits! Irritate liberals!

Irritate them even more by enjoying your Mystic Monk Coffee or Tea in this glorious papal monument.

Posted in Mail from priests, The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged , , ,
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ASK FATHER: How to go to confession to an SSPX priest

Posted on 2 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

penance_confession_stepsFrom a reader…

QUAERITUR:

I now happen to live 10 minutes’ walk from the local FSSPX chapel here in London.

I don’t intend to make it my customary place for Mass (tempting as that is) unless and until a regularisation occurs – and I’m not holding my breath.

I am however aware that going to confession with them remains valid for me and any other Catholic, following Pope Francis’ letter to that effect as a continuation of the permission granted for the Year of Mercy. There are times when it would be very handy for me.

My question is: is there anything different about the rite as celebrated by traditional priests versus, say, going to the Oratory or any other “sound” church? Any customary introductory prayer or act of contrition?

All best and hope to see you again in the UK before too long. [Me too!] Corpus Christi Maiden Lane now has a *spectacular* ad orientem sanctuary following the restoration work. http://www.corpuschristimaidenlane.org.uk/restoration/

First, I have been following the restoration work at the Maiden Lane church.  The parish priest includes me in his email updates.  He was very good to me during my last trip to London, which seems like a terrible long time ago. I celebrated Mass there.  The work is coming along very well.

To business.

Since I don’t know how you have usually made your confession, I can’t say if there will be anything different.  However, I am sure that the SSPXers are used to making the confession in the old fashioned, standard, Anglophone way.  That is, request for a blessing as you begin, statement of time since last confession, perhaps statement of state of life, confession of mortal sins in kind and number, a clear statement of sorrow and that you are finished.  Within that structure there are no codified elements.  Some people say, “For these and all the sins I cannot now remember, I ask a penance and absolution.”  Others might say, “My Jesus, mercy!”  However, make it clear that you are done.  Don’t just trickle off into ambiguous silence.

As far as the Act of Contrition is concerned, again, I suspect that an SSPX confessor would not freak out if a more modern act of contrition were used.  However, I always recommend the use of an old-fashioned Act of Contrition which has all the elements you need in sound language and order.

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven, and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life.

That has it all.  Or, with variations,

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because of Thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin.

Of course you will hear from SSPX priests the traditional form of absolution. It is is a bit more involved, because it also contains the form for the lifting of censures.  The priest will say (in Latin):

May almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and lead you to everlasting life. [R.: Amen.]

Then he raises the right hand toward you, saying (in Latin):

May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, absolution, + and remission of your sins. [R.: Amen.]

Then he says the form about censures you might have incurred and, after that, absolves your sins, saying (in Latin):

May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you. And I by His authority release you from every bond of excommunication, ([for clerics] suspension) and interdict, in so far as I am empowered and you have need. And now I absolve you from your sins; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. [R.: Amen].

After giving you absolution the priest will probably add, though it isn’t strictly necessary, in English:

May the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merits of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints, whatever good you have done, and whatever evil you have endured, achieve for you the forgiveness of your sins, an increase of grace and the reward to eternal life. Amen.

A beautiful prayer.

The older form is logical and orderly.  The logical procedure is echoed in the absolution at the beginning of the traditional Mass after the Confiteor.  The different ways of saying “forgive” (Indulgéntiam, ? absolutionem et remissiónem…), imply logical phases of reconciliation. But I digress.

That’s about it, except for an important final element: Thank the priest before you go.

Everyone: Keep in mind my

And …

GO TO CONFESSION!

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, GO TO CONFESSION, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged , , , ,
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WDTPRS 2 May – St Athanasius: Propugnator, Doctor of the Church

Posted on 2 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

St. AthanasiusIn both the traditional Roman calendar and the post-Conciliar calendar today is the feast of St. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church.

Let’s have a quick look at the Collect for the Mass for St. Athanasius in the Ordinary Form..

2002MR:
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
qui beatum Athanasium episcopum
divinitatis Filii tui propugnatorem eximium suscitasti,
concede propitius,
ut, eius doctrina et protectione gaudentes,
in tui cognitione et amore sine intermissione crescamus.

A propugnator is one who fights “in the place of” another, as indicated in that proposition pro in this compound.  “Champion” is a good way to convey that subtlety.

OBSOLETE ICEL (1973):
Father,
you raised up St. Athanasius
to be an outstanding defender
of the truth of Christ’s divinity.
By his teaching and protection
may we grow in your knowledge and love.

CURRENT ICEL (2011):
Almighty ever-living God,
who raised up the Bishop Saint Athanasius
as an outstanding champion of your Son’s divinity,
mercifully grant,
that, rejoicing in his teaching and his protection,
we may never cease to grow in knowledge and love of you.

You decide.

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Symbolon Quicumque

Posted on 2 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

trinityI penned this for the Catholic Herald, the UK’s best Catholic weekly.

The mighty foe of Arians, St Athanasius of Alexandria (d 373), Bishop and Doctor of the Church, is celebrated on 2 May in both the newer and the traditional Roman calendars.  In his struggles to defend Catholic Truth, Athanasius took on gangs of heretics, bishops and emperors. For his efforts he was rewarded with exile five times.

Confusion reigns in many spheres of the Church right now about what the Church truly holds to be true about faith and morals.  Some well-placed pundits ignore the fact of the Church’s perennial interpretations and now imply that we can’t know for sure what the Lord taught.  Others respond that the doctrinal and practical controversies of these our own days bear a strong resemblance to the era when Holy Church was torn asunder by Arian heresy.

When controversies arose in the past, the Church issued Creeds, dense bullet points, which we could recite and, thereby, avoid error and maintain unity. We all know the common Creeds, such as the Apostles Creed and the Nicean-Constantinopolitan Creed recited at Mass.  But there are other Creeds.  For example, in 1968 Paul VI issued the comprehensive, non-liturgical “Credo of the People of God”.

Speaking of Athanasius, we also have the magnificent “Athanasian” Creed (Symbolon Quicumque), commonly attributed to the saintly doctor.  A mediaeval legend holds that Athanasius, during one of his exiles, gave the text to Pope Julius I.  J.N.D. Kelly, who wrote a book on this Creed, (USA HERE – UK HERE) suggests that St Vincent of Lérin (d c 435) might have been the author.  Authorship aside, it contains precise Trinitarian and Christological statements and ends with the less-than-ambiguous: “This is the Catholic Faith; which except a man believe truly and firmly, he cannot be saved.”

The “Athanasian Creed”, against Arianism, Sabellianism, Nestorianism, and Eutychianism, could be a wonderful starting point for study, prayer and meditation.

Our classical Creeds are for the head what our good works are for the heart.  We recite the basics of the Faith in which we believe (fides quae creditur) so that we, and others, can know who we are.  The Creeds are rehearsals of Faith and preparations for moments of truth called witness (martyrdom).

Look up the Athanasian Creed.  Print it out.  Pocket it.  Review it occasionally.  Host a gathering or a meal with friends. Hand out copies, stand up and recite it aloud with a full, strong voice. Savor the lack of ambiguity!

Here is the Athanasian Creed:

Whoever wants to be saved should above all cling to the Catholic faith.  Whoever does not guard it whole and inviolable will doubtless perish eternally. Now this is the Catholic faith: We venerate one God in trinity and the Trinity in unity (unum Deum in Trinitate, et Trinitatem in unitate veneremur), neither confusing the persons nor dividing the divine being. For the Father is one Person, the Son is another, and the Spirit is still another.  But the deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory, coeternal in majesty.  What the Father is, the Son is, and so is the Holy Spirit.  Uncreated is the Father; uncreated is the Son; uncreated is the Spirit.  The Father is infinite; the Son is infinite; the Holy Spirit is infinite. Eternal is the Father; eternal is the Son; eternal is the Spirit: And yet there are not three eternal beings, but one who is eternal; as there are not three uncreated and unlimited beings, but one who is uncreated and unlimited.  Almighty is the Father; almighty is the Son; almighty is the Spirit: And yet there are not three almighty beings, but one who is almighty.  Thus the Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God: And yet there are not three gods, but one God. Thus the Father is Lord; the Son is Lord; the Holy Spirit is Lord:  And yet there are not three lords, but one Lord. As Christian truth compels us to acknowledge each distinct person as God and Lord, so Catholic religion forbids us to say that there are three gods or lords.  The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten; the Son was neither made nor created, but was alone begotten of the Father; the Spirit was neither made nor created, but is proceeding from the Father and the Son. Thus there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three spirits.  And in this Trinity, no one is before or after, greater or less than the other; but all three Persons are in themselves, coeternal and coequal (coaeternae sibi sunt et coaequales); and so we must worship the Trinity in unity and the one God in three Persons.  Whoever wants to be saved should think thus about the Trinity.

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Archd. Kansas City breaks with Girl Scouts, tied to Big Business Abortion provider Planned Parenthood, etc.

Posted on 1 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I was alerted to a statement (HERE) from His Excellency Most Reverend Joseph Naumann that the Archdiocese of Kansas City (Kansas) is instructing parishes to cut their ties with the Girl Scouts because of their support of Big Business Abortion – Planned Parenthood.

Statement Regarding Archdiocesan Transition from Girl Scouts to American Heritage Girls
By Archbishop Joseph F Naumann
May 1, 2017

After several consultations with the Presbyteral Council and with the recommendation of our Office for Youth Ministry, I have asked the pastors of the Archdiocese to begin the process of transitioning away from the hosting of parish Girl Scout troops and toward the chartering of American Heritage Girls troops.  [I haven’t heard of them.  But this is a good sign.]

Pastors were given the choice of making this transition quickly, [recommended] or to, over the next several years, “graduate” the Scouts currently in the program. Regardless of whether they chose the immediate or phased transition, parishes should be in the process of forming American Heritage Girl troops, at least for their kindergarteners, this fall.

The decision to end our relationship with Girl Scouting was not an easy one. Over a period of many years, our Archdiocesan Youth Ministry staff spent hundreds of hours researching concerns regarding the policies of both the International and the National Girl Scouting organizations. In addition, they have spent hundreds of hours in dialogue with Scouts, parents, pastors, and national Girl Scouting representatives regarding our concerns with disturbing content in materials and resources developed and promulgated by the national organization. I personally have been in conversation with national and local Girl Scout leaders regarding my concerns about the new direction of national Girl Scouting reflected in the content of their program materials.

Eventually it came down to this. Our greatest responsibility as a church is to the children and young people in our care. We have a limited time and number of opportunities to impact the formation of our young people. It is essential that all youth programs at our parishes affirm virtues and values consistent with our Catholic faith. [Do I hear an “Amen!”?]

To follow Jesus and his Gospel will often require us to be counter-cultural. With the promotion by Girl Scouts USA (GSUSA) of programs and materials reflective of many of the troubling trends in our secular culture, they are no longer a compatible partner in helping us form young women with the virtues and values of the Gospel.

The national organization, for example, contributes more than a million dollars each year to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGS), an organization tied to International Planned Parenthood and its advocacy for legislation that includes both contraception and abortion as preventive health care for women.

Margret Sanger, Betsy Friedan and Gloria Steinem are frequently held up in materials as role models for young Scouts. [Disgusting.] These as well as many other “role models” in the GSUSA’s new manuals and web content not only do not reflect our Catholic worldview but stand in stark opposition to what we believe.

While I am grateful that offensive and completely age-inappropriate material was recently removed by GSUSA from portions of their Journey series of manuals in response to concerns raised by the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and others, it is disturbing such an intervention on our part was necessary. We prefer to partner with youth organizations that share our values and vision for youth ministry, not ones that we have to monitor constantly to protect our children from being misled and misinformed.

American Heritage Girls, a program based on Christian values, we believe is a much better fit for our parishes. I encourage you to read more about the American Heritage Girl program by going to its website, www.americanheritagegirls.org. For more information about the history of and issues surrounding our Girl Scouting decision, go to www.archkck.org/scouting-home.

On a final note, I want to express my appreciation for the many extraordinary Girl Scout leaders of the archdiocese who have served so many so well. We look forward to having as many of them as are willing join us in leadership roles as we take this new step into the formation of our girls. I will always be grateful for their exceptional service.

Fr. Z kudos to Archbishop Naumann.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Emanations from Penumbras, Our Catholic Identity, The future and our choices | Tagged , , , ,
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Hurray! It’s Maÿ!

Posted on 1 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

UPDATE 2 May:

On a day when we are getting frost warnings from NOAH this comes from a reader, but as I listened I could hear lots of birds out of doors, especially the chicakdees who are chatting…

You may/may not have come across this.  The chap reading is an Australian, but a professor of English who’s studied Barnes’s poetry and the Dorset dialect.  What’s interesting, though, is that he has different words in places to the poem you put up on the blog.

I was going to attempt to read it, but my accent would’ve been a bit too Zumerzet y, to be accurate!

I enjoyed the recording.  Scroll down to find it HERE.

__ Originally Published on: May 1, 2017 __

A few years ago I found a wonderful poem about the merry month of May over at the site of the always-to-be-followed Laudator.  It is too good not to repost today.

Read it aloud!

I would love to have a recording of this read by a native of Dorset.  Can any of you readers help?  Record it and send it to me by email! 

William Barnes (1801-1886), Maÿ, from Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1898), pp. 20-22. (US HERE – UK HERE)

The Oxford Companion to English Literature (US HERE – UK HERE) says, “According to his many admirers, who included Tennyson, G.M. Hopkins, Hardy, and Gosse, Barnes was a lyric poet of the first rank, but the difficulties presented by the Dorset dialect have restricted his audience and contributed to the image of a quaint provincial versifier.” The “difficulties presented by the Dorset dialect” are minimal — one soon figures out that v is sometimes substituted for f, d for th, z for s, etc. The only words that gave me pause in Maÿ were alassen = lest, mid = might, parrock = small field, and rig = climb:

Come out o’ door, ’tis Spring! ’tis Maÿ
The trees be green, the vields be gaÿ;
The weather’s warm, the winter blast,
Wi’ all his traïn o’ clouds, is past;
The zun do rise while vo’k do sleep,
To teäke a higher daily zweep,
Wi’ cloudless feäce a-flingèn down
His sparklèn light upon the groun’.

The aïrs a-streamèn soft,—come drow
The winder open; let it blow
In drough the house, where vire, an’ door
A-shut, kept out the cwold avore.
Come, let the vew dull embers die,
An’ come below the open sky;
An’ wear your best, vor fear the groun’
In colours gaÿ mid sheäme your gown:
An’ goo an’ rig wi’ me a mile
Or two up over geäte an’ stile,
Drough zunny parrocks that do leäd,
Wi’ crooked hedges, to the meäd,
Where elems high, in steätely ranks,
Do rise vrom yollow cowslip-banks,
An’ birds do twitter vrom the spraÿ Twitter
O’ bushes deck’d wi’ snow-white maÿ;
An’ gil’cups, wi’ the deäisy bed,
Be under ev’ry step you tread.

We’ll wind up roun’ the hill, an’ look
All down the thickly-timber’d nook,
Out where the squier’s house do show
His grey-wall’d peaks up drough the row
O’ sheädy elems, where the rook
Do build her nest; an’ where the brook
Do creep along the meäds, an’ lie
To catch the brightness o’ the sky;
An’ cows, in water to theïr knees,
Do stan’ a-whiskèn off the vlees.

Mother o’ blossoms, and ov all
That’s feäir, a-vield vrom Spring till Fall,
The gookoo over white-weäv’d seas
Do come to zing in thy green trees,
An’ buttervlees, in giddy flight,
Do gleäm the mwost by thy gaÿ light
Oh! when, at last, my fleshly eyes
Shall shut upon the vields an’ skies,
Mid zummer’s zunny days be gone,
An’ winter’s clouds be comèn on:
Nor mid I draw upon the e’th,
O’ thy sweet air my leätest breath;
Alassen I mid want to staÿ
Behine’ for thee, O flow’ry Maÿ!

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1 May: Feast of the Prophet St. Jeremiah

Posted on 1 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

 

Today is not only the feast of St. Joseph the worker, but also the feast of the prophet Jeremiah.

Some people do not know that many figures of the Old Testament are considered saints by the Catholic Church.  They are not celebrated on our main liturgical calendar but they are in the Roman Martyrology, an official liturgical book.

 

Here is the text of the 2005 MartRom, which I will leave to you readers to work through animi caussa (just for fun)!

Commemoratio sancti Ieremiae, prophetae, qui, tempore Ioachim et Sedeciae, regum Iudae, Civitatis Sanctae eversionem populique deportationem monens, multas persecutiones passus est, quam ob rem Ecclesia eum habuit ut Christi patientis figuram.  Novum aeternumque insuper Testamentum in ipso Christo Iesu consummandum praenuntiavit, quo Pater omnipotens legem suam in imo filiorum Israel corde scriberet, ut esset ipse iis in Deum et essent illi ei in populum.

Enjoy!

The moderation queue is ON so that you can work on your own English version without the distraction of someone else’s. I’ll release them later in the day.

Posted in Saints: Stories & Symbols | Tagged
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Confraternity of Catholic Clergy: a question

Posted on 30 April 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fathers.

Have you heard if there is much going on with the various national iterations of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy?  I’ve look around on their websites, but I don’t see all that much posted.

Inquiring minds what to know.

The moderation queue is ON.  I read everything.

Posted in Mail from priests, Priests and Priesthood | Tagged
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Reader Feedback

Posted on 30 April 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

confession-731x1024I appreciate notes and feedback, especially like this.

From a reader…

I *finally* took the advice that you keep hammering into the readers of your blog and went to confession last evening, a year since my last confession. I’m glad I did, and I’ve resolved to do what the priest advised me to do and be more regular in going to confession. I’ve promised God and myself that I will now go at least four times a year:

I know it’s still not very often, but it’s a commitment I’m sure I can keep.

Thank you for your wise pastoral advice on receiving the sacrament of Penance.

My work here is done.

No, rather, my work here is just beginning.

GO TO CONFESSION!

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