Your Sunday Sermon Notes and a “fervorino”

Posted on 30 April 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Was there a good point in the sermon you heard for your Mass of Sunday obligation?

Let us know.

Here’s a mini-sermon, a bloggy fervorino for this Sunday.

For a couple days one of you readers has been sending me high resolution images of beautiful old holy cards.  They simultaneously reflect the deep piety of the people and of the era of their making, and they also increase piety by looking at them.  I am sincerely moved by the images, which can be both simple and packed.  Some people might dub them old-fashioned or even saccharine, I don’t care.  They work!

Because today is, in the older, traditional Roman Rite, nicknamed Good Shepherd Sunday, here is a lovely card which I received. It shamelessly mixes metaphors (shepherd, tossed boat), but aptly sums up what our own attitude ought to be in the chaos of the Church today.  It is also perfect for this Sunday.  Have a good look, then read the readings for the day, below.

Jesus_Lamb_Storm_Boat_640

The jaded might scratch their heads and wonder why the lamb is in a boat.  Maybe the lamb got lost?   I say lamb, because its age and size are proportioned to the Lord, who appears to be young.  I suppose this was a card intended for children.

Now consider today’s Epistle, in which the Lord is described as being both Shepherd and Bishop of the soul.

Lesson
Lesson from the first letter of St Peter the Apostle
1 Pet 2:21-25

Dearly beloved, Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow His steps who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. Who when He was reviled, did not revile: when He suffered, He threatened not, but delivered Himself to him that judged Him unjustly: who His own self bore our sins in His body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice; by whose stripes you were healed. For you were as sheep going astray: but you are now converted to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Allelúia, allelúia
Luke 24:35.
The disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the breaking of bread. Allelúia
John 10:14.
I am the good Shepherd: and I know My sheep, and Mine know Me.
Allelúia.

Now let’s bring in another text, the Collect of the Mass, as an interpretive aid. It says:

O God, who, by the humility of Thy Son, didst lift up a fallen world, grant unending happiness to Thy faithful: that those whom Thou hast snatched from the perils of endless death, Thou mayest cause to rejoice in everlasting days….

The perils of death… endless death.  In our holy card, things aren’t looking good for the lamb’s future… if it weren’t for the Lord, look over him.  In the image, the Lord is the lamb’s Shepherd (pastor) and, literal, Over-Looker (episcopus).

However, can drill a little more into the boat and bishop connection?  What’s with the lamb in the storm-tossed boat and Christ as the “Bishop of our souls”?

The word for Bishop in 1 Peter 2:25 is episkopos (epi-, which intensifies, and –skopos, “seer”, as in English telescope, microscope, etc.), so, “keen observer”.  In ancient times the episkopos inspected troops before for battle. In the Church, the episkopos, the bishop, inspects, guides and governs the soldier pilgrims of the Church Militant, He makes sure that they are ready for what is to come so that they can attain their goal: victory and return to the fatherland.  A similar figure and language shows up in our liturgical prayers.  Another image like the episcopus, and also military, is the gubernator. Gubernator, in our sumptuous Lewis & Short Dictionary is from guberno, “to steer or pilot a ship”. Logically, it also means “to direct, manage, conduct, govern, guide”. The Liddell, Scott, Jones Greek Lexicon, or LSJ, says that kubernao is “steer”, “drive” and, metaphorically “guide, govern” and then “act as a pilot”.  The episcopus and the gubernator do pretty much the same thing, one on the land, the other on the sea… or, ecclesiastically, in the see.

Look again at our image, above. Christ is both Good Shepherd of the soul (hence, the lamb), and Bishop of the soul (hence the boat).  He is our true Captain, as it were, in this storm-tossed barque which is the Church.

Gospel

Cleanse my heart and my lips, O almighty God, who didst cleanse the lips of the prophet Isaias with a burning coal, and vouchsafe, through Thy gracious mercy, so to purify me, that I may worthily announce Thy holy Gospel. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Give me Thy blessing, O Lord. The Lord be in my heart and on my lips, that I may worthily and in a becoming manner, proclaim His holy Gospel. Amen.

P. The Lord be with you.
S. And with thy spirit.
Continuation ? of the Holy Gospel according to John
R. Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
John 10:11-16.

At that time Jesus said to the Pharisees: I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and flieth: and the wolf catcheth and scattereth the sheep: and the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling, and he hath no care for the sheep. I am the good Shepherd: and I know Mine, and Mine know Me, as the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father: and I lay down My life for My sheep. And other sheep I have that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.

R. Praise be to Thee, O Christ.
S. By the words of the Gospel may our sins be blotted out.

 

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ASK FATHER: TLM of “anticipation” on Saturday evening

Posted on 29 April 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Mass_ConsecrationFrom a priest…

QUAERITUR:

Dear Fr. Zuhlsdorf in Christ,

A blessed Eastertide to you. I hope you are well.

Although I’ve been offering the Extraordinary Form almost exclusively (unless I’m called upon to offer an NO Mass in some parish), I’m unclear about the rules for EF Mass of Anticipation.

After what time must I offer the Sunday Mass – or may I offer a “Mass of BVM on Saturday” around 7:00 pm or so?

I greatly appreciate your help with this and my previous questions. God’s blessings for you and your work.

In Christ and His Sorrowful Mother,…

A priest can now say a Traditional Mass at, say, 7 PM.  That’s not a problem, even though waaaay back in the day it wasn’t common.  As a matter of fact, I think that it was not allowed, once upon a time, for Mass to begin after noon.  If memory serves, Pius XII allowed for evening Masses for people who had to work in the morning.  Moreover, way back, there were’t electric lights in the church and in the streets and paths to church.  But I digress.  Back when, for evening Masses, the texts of that same day were used, not of the next day.

A traditional Mass celebrated at 7 PM on a Saturday evening would still use the texts of the Saturday, whatever it was.

Also, no matter which texts were used for the Mass on Saturday evening, participation at that Mass would fulfill the Sunday obligation.

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“Things have gone terribly, terribly wrong.”

Posted on 29 April 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Hows_Liturgy_CandleThe other day, I posted a thought about a ridiculous claim (HERE).  I wrote:

There is no lack of priestly vocations where bishops are capable of projecting solid clerical identity and where they teach perennial Catholic truth in charity and in clarity.

I come from a parish where in 30 years there were 30 First Masses.  I live in a diocese where in a decade the bishop turned around vocations from 6 to 30.

The proportion of priests to people is more or less constant.  Why?  Lay people get the priests that they produce and that they deserve.   Lower Mass attendance results in falling numbers of priests, not the other way around.

Today I read a perspicacious piece by Phil Lawler at Catholic Culture.  He addressed the issue of the number of churches being opened or closed in the Archdiocese of Boston – though what he wrote could easily apply to just about any diocese you can name – throw a dart at the map.  He also touched on vocations to the priesthood.  He wrote:

There were about 1.8 million Catholics registered in the area covered by the Boston archdiocese 50 years ago; today the official figure is 1.9 million.

The trouble, of course, is that most of those 1.9 million Catholics aren’t practicing the faith. Consequently it should be no surprise that their sons don’t aspire to the priesthood. There were just over 2,500 priests working in the archdiocese 50 years ago; now there are fewer than 300. That’s right; nearly 90% of the priests are gone. If you can’t replace the priests, you can’t keep open the parishes.

Let’s be frank. These figures are not a cause for concern; they are a cause for horror. Panic is never useful, but something close to panic is appropriate here. Things have gone terribly, terribly wrong.

He also wrote:

Yes, the Lord promised that the Church would last through the end of time. But he did not promise that the Archdiocese of Boston (or your own diocese) would last forever. The faith can disappear, indeed has disappeared, from large geographical areas—northern Africa, for instance.

Exactly.  This echoes what I’ve written on many occasions (for example HERE and HERE):

While the Lord promised that the hell would in the end not prevail, He did not promise it would not prevail in, say, your home town, your country.  Think of the mighty Churches of ancient times, in Turkey and North Africa.  They are gone and now we have echos of their memory in certain bishops who serve the Church everywhere but where those sees were. [i.e., auxiliary bishops]

Whole regions of Churches can be broken and swept away like sand.  Parishes close in dioceses.  Jesus did not found your parish.  He didn’t promise that it would last until He returned.

GMTA!

Lawler adds:

[E]ven if we could safely assume that the faith will recover in another 10 or 20 or 50 years, that would not absolve us, in this current generation, of our responsibility to evangelize. Right now, people are going without the benefit of the sacraments, because of our failure and our complacency. Lives are being lost; souls are being lost. We are accountable.

Go read the whole thing over there.

If you are worried about what’s going on, you are not alone.

I, of course, will restate what I always state.  The success of every initiative we undertake in the Church, either ad intra or ad extra, depends on a revitalization of our sacred liturgical worship.  If that doesn’t happen, neither will any other good thing we attempt.  Our Catholic identity flows from and back to worship.  We can’t know who we are without it.  Nor can we have the divine aid we need to do what has to be done.

Finally, FATHERS!  Please, I implore you, to take a look at

>>THIS<<

Bishops, priests, please.  Take a look especially at the end.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices | Tagged , ,
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BELGIUM: Brothers of Charity, Catholic psychiatric hospitals to provide euthanasia

Posted on 29 April 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

euthanasia_syringeA couple times lately, in reaction to a seriously messed up claim (HERE) about downward trend of priestly vocations and how wonderful everything would be if only we could throw off the bad stuff that Vatican II tried to get rid of, I’ve mentioned Belgium. Belgium: a place where the liberal agenda has worked so well for the Church that now only 5% of Catholics go to Mass.

This is a really disturbing sign of the times. Once again, dear readers, Belgium.

From BioEdge:

Belgian Catholic psychiatric hospitals ‘adjust’ their view of euthanasia

One of the last substantial barriers to increasing the number of euthanasia cases for non-terminally-ill psychiatric patients in Belgium seems to have crumbled.

A religious order in the Catholic Church, the Brothers of Charity, is responsible for a large proportion of beds for psychiatric patients in Belgium – about 5,000 of them. The international head of the order, Brother René Stockman, is a Belgian who has been one of the leading opponents of euthanasia in recent years.

Nonetheless, in a surprise move this week, the board controlling the institutions of the Brothers of Charity announced that from now on, it will allow euthanasia to take place in their psychiatric hospitals. [I wonder what the local bishops and the CDF have to say about this.]

In a statement posted on their website the Brothers of Charity explain the policy shift. “We take seriously unbearable and hopeless suffering and patients’ request for euthanasia. On the other hand, we do want to protect lives and ensure that euthanasia is performed only if there is no more possibility to provide a reasonable perspective to treat the patient.”

Euthanasia for psychiatric patients has already happened dozens of times in Belgium. But from now on it will probably be easier for people suffering from schizophrenia, personality
disorders, depression, autism, or loneliness to access it. In fact, it will be hard to find an institution in Belgium where euthanasia is not being offered as an option.

[…]

The liberal agenda has been such a great success.

Posted in Liberals, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices, You must be joking! | Tagged , ,
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Cellos, differently

Posted on 29 April 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I ran across this again. A little fun for Saturday.

It reminds us that tool can be used in a variety of ways.

YouTube thumbnailYouTube icon

Posted in Lighter fare, Linking Back | Tagged
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Fun with papal reporting!

Posted on 28 April 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Friday needs a little fun.

Sometimes Homer nods and sometimes Google translate applies the soporific!

From the other day via Google and Katolisch.de HERE

17_04_28_screenshot_02

Ummm… something was lost in translation.  Thanks, Google, for the chuckle!

And there’s this, which I picked up via my friend Greg DiPippo.  In Vatican Insider we find coverage of the Pope’s trip to parts Egyptian. And this isn’t with Google’s help (at least on my “end”).

17_04_28_screenshot_03

Okay, Holy Father. I promise never to do asses, or even a single ass, on Christian perfection.

Seriously, the Italian text said: “non fate esami di perfezione cristiana… don’t give quizzes in Christian perfection”.

That said, I think the clergy should set bars that are… not low.

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ASK FATHER: In Communion Services to do people “self communicate”?

Posted on 28 April 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

elevation mass host 05From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

Is anyone other than a Priest allowed to self-Communicate as in a “Communion” service? Thank you.

GUEST PRIEST RESPONSE: Fr. Tim Ferguson

Herein we get some fairly complicated liturgical law, and this is one of those situations where having a Code of Liturgical Law for the Roman Rite would be helpful.

In the 2004 Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments clarified that, at Holy Mass, “It is not licit for the faithful ‘to take…by themselves… and, still less, to hand … from one to another’ the sacred host or the sacred chalice.”

This is an instruction (see canon 34), which does not make law, but rather sets out the provisions of the law and says how the law is to be applied. As an Instruction, it cannot change law (note, however, for those playing the home game, that not everything that is called, in English, an “Instruction” is really an instruction – the “General Instruction of the Roman Missal” is actually the “Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani,” an Institution, which makes law, not an Instruction which applies or clarifies the law).

For the law, we have to go back to the 1988 Directory for Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest by the Congregation for Divine Worship (issued by the late, lamented Paul Augustin Cardinal Mayer, OSB, and his secretary, then-archbishop Vergilio Noe). In this Directory, we are informed, that, “for the communion rite, the provisions given in the Roman Ritual for Communion outside Mass are to be observed.”

For this, we are sent back to the Roman Ritual, issued in 1973 from the Congregation for Divine Worship, which says, (paragraph 33), “If the minister receives communion, he says quietly, ‘May the body of Christ bring me to everlasting life.’ He reverently consumes the body of Christ.”

Redemptionis Sacramentum clarifies (a bit) further, stating that (paragraph 165) if there is not a priest or deacon present to led this service, “various parts be distributed among several faithful rather than having a single lay member of the faithful direct the whole celebration alone. Nor is it ever appropriate to refer to any member of the lay faithful as ‘presiding’ over the celebration.”

So, where does that leave us?

As far as I can tell, there’s been no further clarification on the rubrics of such a service since the Roman Ritual of 1973, instructing the “minister” to “reverently consume the body of Christ.” A lay person who, in such an instance, is serving as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, even if, in keeping with Redemptionis Sacramentum, is not directing the whole celebration alone, can reverently consume the Eucharist.

At the same time, I note the condition added in the Roman Ritual, “If…” So it would seem that the rubric envision the possibility of a minister leading a service of Holy Communion and not himself receiving. I think one who leads such a service in the absence of a priest could legitimately say that, owing the the clear indication that, during Holy Mass the faithful ought not self-communicate, and not wishing to cause any scandal among the faithful, he would refrain from self-communicating at these times.

I would further add that any service of the distribution of Holy Communion outside of Mass, especially one directed by lay people, should include significant and devout prayers for an increase in priestly vocations so that these types of services might become absolutely unnecessary.  [Do I hear an “Amen!”?]

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Swiss Guards: Armor and “the most powerful weapon that exists”

Posted on 28 April 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Many of you will remember that project we had to make fitted armor for one of the Swiss Guard.  HERE

I was alerted to a great photo at the National Catholic Register of the Guard in his splendid armor…. made by some of you reader/donors.

That’s our guy on the right.  On the breastplate he had engraved St. Joseph and St. Joan of Arc.

17_04_28_Swiss_Guard_armor_01

And you may also remember that the Swiss Guard also were given and carry the “Combat Rosary” in the gun-metal finish, modeled on the military-issued rosaries of yesteryear.  These are prepared by my friend Fr. Heilman.  A couple years ago, we had an project to put these rosaries into the hands of the Guards.  The Commandant spoke about them at last years swearing in ceremony on 6 May 2016.    The Guards were discussing this new tense time of security both for the Holy Fathers and for the Guards themselves:

At the right time, at the beginning of the year, a generous donor has surprised us with a gift. He sent the Swiss guard the most powerful weapon that exists on the market: the ‘Combat Rosary’, Literally, the rosary for the fight. Now it was given in allocation to all the guards. It is important that we find the path of prayer, especially the prayer of the Rosary. Our life, our works and our actions are in the hands of God. However, this does not mean that we can give up to arms and to exercises. God uses us as instruments to ward off evil in some situations. This is why we need a faith, faith in God and prayer.

16_05_07_Swiss_Guard_Rosary_01a 940

Cooler than that is hard to find.

UPDATE:

What I was talking about.  And it’s just about the same color as other things in my “daily carry” set.

Posted in Just Too Cool, Linking Back | Tagged , ,
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Of Prisoners and Devotions

Posted on 28 April 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

If we want to succeed in our initiatives in the Church, initiatives directed both ad intra and ad extra, we must revitalize our Catholic identity.  To revitalize our Catholic identity, we need, first and foremost, a renewal of our sacred liturgical worship, primarily of Holy Mass but also of the office and other rites.   And, in addition to our liturgical worship, we need to revive, recover, restore old devotions.

For example, at my home parish there was on every Tuesday evening, the Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help followed by Benediction, followed by confessions.  It was always well-attended.

Fr. Hunwicke reminded me of another devotion, very French I think, in a recent post.  HERE

I suspect that many of you haven’t heard of the devotion to the “Divine Prisoner”, or “Prisoner in the Tabernacle”.  I believe this was a strong devotion of St. Thérèse.

Here is one prayer:

O JESUS, DIVINE PRISONER present always in the Tabernacle as a ransom for my sins, look on me a prisoner, too, bound by my own guilt. O, relieve me from the shackles of my sins that I may give myself to the service of Thy Love.

Deliver me from the shackles of my pride, sweet Jesus, from my vanity, sloth and anger, melt the stiffness of my will, break the tyranny of my passions, open wide the door of my dungeoned soul and dispel the darkness of my sins and ignorance.

Have pity, O Divine Prisoner! Have pity on this poor prisoner. Help me to escape from sin so that I may always be with Thee … forever Thy prisoner! My mind chained by Thy Truth! My will chained by Thy Law! My heart chained by Thy Love! Chain me to Thee, living and dying. And may I die, dear Jesus, a prisoner in Thy Sacred Heart. Amen.

Some may tut at the old-fashioned language.  I respond that there is nothing wrong with old-fashioned!

Let the prayers of our forebears be ours as well.

And…

GO TO CONFESSION!

So, if you would have Faith, pray.

Prisoner_Tabernacle_Eucharist

How wonderful it would be to find a cache of these old-fashioned prayer cards.   I especially want a really good copy of the card (and statue) of Our Lady Queen of the Clergy.  I looked around in shops in Paris, but to no avail.   Perhaps they could be an opportunity for some entrepreneur.

 

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, "How To..." - Practical Notes, GO TO CONFESSION, Hard-Identity Catholicism, The future and our choices | Tagged ,
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BOOK: The Devil Hates Latin

Posted on 27 April 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The title of this book intrigued me from the start, since it is a phrase that I have written many times.  It came out last year (I’m surprised that I wasn’t alerted, frankly).

The Devil Hates Latin by Katherine Galgano (which strikes me as a nom de plume).

US HERE – UK HERE

A Kindle version is available.  Do you not have a Kindle yet?  Sheesh. US HERE – UK HERE

Here is a quick read which will appeal immediately to the more traditional among you, but which could be a strong cup of wake up for the more liberal among you.

It strikes me as having been written with a heavily female ex-pat perspective, which is fine. Women stress some things that men don’t.  As someone who lived in Rome as long as I did, I see what’s going on pretty easily and she get’s a lot right.  The plot takes a while to develop, as many characters are introduced one by one, each one having grim circumstances.  It’s hard, at first, to see how the threads will eventually come together.

BTW… you’ll probably not want to live in Rome after reading a few pages of this book.  As a matter of fact, it deals with some awful stuff.  The line, “Hopelessness, cynicism and disappointment bit deeply into the fabric of Italian life, and like some airborne malaise, drifted through the windows of the Pirisi’s third floor apartment.”  Thus, also the book.   It paints a not very rosy picture of the state of modern society and of the Church… the liberal-run Church.  There’s this:

“But the Church has broken down here in Italy to the point where it can no longer perform these vital tasks. Old clergy still parrot the exhausted ideas of the sixties, speaking mainly to the elderly in fast-emptying pews. There are no vocations. The few committed Catholics here are isolated in the ghettos of their various ‘movements’ which help them find work and, sometimes, raise their children among like-minded people. But they have very little influence on the larger culture. If you are unlucky enough to be a pregnant young woman in a ‘normal’ Italian family, you will probably choose to abort. The evil is everywhere, Your Excellency.”

But with a title like The Devil Hates Latin you wouldn’t expect fluffy kittens and dancing smiley flowers.

Much like Malachi Martin does in Windswept House (US HERE – UK HERE) she creates not very subtly veiled characters, such as Alexander Card. Portland, described as “an intelligent bishop who actually believed” and “the real thing”. He is a composite.  There is an African Pope (a good guy).  The conclave dodged a German and “a Filipino with an infectious grin”.

And Latin, of course, figures in the book. She gets some Latin and Italian wrong, and in my Kindle version there were some typographical problems, but I give lots of points to those who try. You’ll find some not entirely convincing “action” moments.  But, there’s Latin for Masses and exorcism: what’s not to like? Happily, there are mentions of the traditional parish in Rome, Ss. Trinità dei Pelegrini and the traditional Mass.  And one line I agreed with entirely: “He thought reflexively for the thousandth time about how one of the benefits of being Roman Catholic was, no doubt, the food.”

A good thing in the book is the emphasis on how people get into serious spiritual trouble and what sort of disasters result from liberalism and indifferentism in the Church.

There is a very strong defense in the book of the unborn, while describing some sad circumstances.

Many of you will enjoy this quick read.

UPDATE:

From a reader…

This is a Non Sequitur from the post, but I thought you may find it interesting.

My ten year old reported to me that when he was trying to pray the rosary one night, Our Lady kept interrupting him saying, “Say your prayers in Latin” or some thing to that effect. He knew the Hail Mary, but wanted to learn ALL of it in Latin.

He’s not a child given to making up stories….his little brother, if he’d have said it I would have just raised my eyebrows and kept going, he’s a little B.S.er…..definitely our future lawyer!

But Paddy is a straight shooter.

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