Fr. Z's Blog | Catholic commentary by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Wherein Fr. Z relates a brutal tale of sudden realization and horror

Posted on 20 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

in S. California, in the exotic periphery of Bakersfield, a priest friend zoomed up to the door of where I was staying and gruffly said, “Get in the car!”.

“Ralph!”, quoth I, “Is something wrong?”

“Just get in the car!”, he grumped.

I was used to this, since he occasionally did this sort of thing and in this sort of way. I, compliant, grabbed what I knew I might need for a longish Adventure With Ralph and, obediently, got into the car.

Off we went. I tried to wheedle our destination and mission from him, but he was stoic.

Soon we pulled into the driveway of the Kern County Juvenile Detention Center.

“So someone is in trouble after all,” I thought in my innocence.

Little did I realize that my innocence was about to be deluded.

“Get out of the car,” he growled, as his own door swung open. I, dutiful, obeyed.

“Take a good look,” he snarled. I, docile, looked.

I intently studied the Kern County Juvenile Detention Center.

“Get in the car!”, he barked.

“Ralph!”, quoth I, “What…?”

“Just get in the car!”, he grumped.

Off we went, down the drive, through side streets, on to southbound I-5 towards the Grapevine and smoggy Los Angeles beyond.

It’s not a short drive to LA so I had ample time to contemplate my recent visual experience of the architectural splendors of the Kern County Juvenile Detention Center.

Ralph, as his name suggests, was a pretty good conversationalist, God rest his soul. So we chatted about many things, except where we were going and why we were going there.

Over the Grapevine and down into the hot sprawl of that ghastly city we drove, reaching the city center. Having wound through various streets Ralph plunged the car down into an underground lot.

Mere minutes later we were escalated back into the heat and sunshine onto a largish open paved square. Turning, I beheld it for the first time in my life.

The sight took the breath from my lungs. It was, quite simply, one of the ugliest buildings I have ever seen.

The RogMahal. The TajMahony. The Yellow Armadillo. The Cathedral of Los Angeles, Our Lady of the Angels.

“What do you see?”, Ralph rumbled.

It was obvious. Inescapable.

“The Kern County Juvenile Detention Center.”

___

I write this today, for the record, because I saw at the site Gloria Romanorum some photos of the LA Cathedral in all its brutality. My experience flooded back.

Just so that you know what I am talking about….

The Kern County Juvenile Detention Center

kern country juvenile detention center

The LA Cathedral.

Epilogue:

Ralph, mischievous, then brought me to gaze upon the horrors of the LA Opera House.

By now, you are wondering if he had a heart at all.

Subsequent to my brutally eye-opening treatment, we visited the LA County Museum, took a look at the Union Station, visited a couple of charming old churches, and then had supper at a place he knew would serve me my first authentic taste of mole. Thus, the blows to my soul were salved.

But never will I forget my first glimpse of, quite simply, one of the ugliest buildings I have ever seen. It will forever be fused in my mind with growling Ralph and The Kern County Juvenile Detention Center.

Posted in Lighter fare | Tagged Los Angeles
28 Comments

Latinists! A great opportunity in June

Posted on 20 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I’ve been in touch with the folks who are organizing Sermo Fidelium (Talk/Language of the Faithful).

This will be a few days in a truly beautiful setting for Latinists and students of Latin to spend time together latine loquentes. The dates 13-17 June. It is remarkably inexpensive.

I was invited to come to be able to celebrate Mass for the group and preach in Latin. Alas, I had a conflict in my schedule. But I really wanted to go, especially after looking at the place and the program.

Check it out. HERE

Posted in Events, The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged Latin, Sermo Fidelium
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ASK FATHER: Am I obliged to do the strange penance Father gave during confession?

Posted on 20 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

When I went to confession the priest asked me to watch a certain movie for my penance. I have done a search for it but what I found (trailers) seems contrary to the faith, very progressive/liberal ideas. Am I bound to do this penance? Thank you for your help.

In my judgment, no, even though that really could be “penance”, in more ways than one.

Priests must give penances to penitents and penitents are obliged to fulfill penances themselves (can. 981). However, the penance should be clear, reasonable and doable in a reasonable period of time.

It should be clear: “Think a nice though about someone,” isn’t clear. How do you know when you have done it?

It should be reasonable: “Rebuild with your own hands old St. Ugthred’s Church, which has been abandoned since 1923.” Most people can’t do that.

It should be doable in a reasonable time frame: “Say the rosary for 100 days… Travel to the Shrine of Our Lady at La Vang, Vietnam… Next Easter Sunday (months away) do… Obtain and watch this questionable movie which I like and watch it….”

Getting and watching a movie isn’t commensurate with, say, saying a chaplet of the rosary or reading a specific Scripture passage for a few minutes. For one thing, unless it is free, he has asked you to spend money. Next, you may not have the means to watch it. Also, are you supposed to watch it without blinking? What if you have to make supper for your children and, therefore, must needs interrupt the movie? What it you don’t want your children to see it, but can’t stay up late to watch it alone?

Look. A priest can give whatever penances he can get away with, I guess. If the penance is too onerous or impossible, or too vague, you can, as a penitent, ask for a something clear and doable.

In my opinion it is – in general – a bad idea to propose (and that is what assigning a penance is, a proposal which the priest is obliged to propose) something that the penitent cannot do easily and in a short period.

In the counsel part of a sacramental confession a priest might usefully advise someone to seek therapy, or to attend AA, or to join Weight Watchers, watch a movie, or to frequent meetings of Liturgical Ad-Libbers Anonymous (LALA). Those suggestions or counsels, not good penances.

Fathers… especially you NEW priests being ordained in this season… assign something the penitent can complete before leaving the church. Thus, short prayers are good penances.

The moderation queue is ON.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ACTION ITEM!, GO TO CONFESSION, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged can. 981, confession, sacrament of penance
19 Comments

A Pope in hell?

Posted on 19 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Today is the feast of St. Peter Celestine, Pope Celestine V, who famously resigned the papacy.

One of the fascinating people in our Catholic family history.

Pietro da Morrone, born c. 1215, in the Molise area of central Italy, came from a family of peasants. He entered a Benedictine monastery and later became a hermit. Peter eventually guided a community of hermits modeled along the lines of the Cistercian Benedictine rule. He was well-known for his holiness and his acclaimed ability to heal.

With the death of Nicholas IV, the see of Peter was vacant for three years. Pietro was eventually elected “by inspiration” in 1294. He took the name Celestine.
Celestine came out of the blocks with a strong spiritual program. He created 12 cardinals, the number of the apostles, including 5 monks. Celestine was inspired by the musings of Joachim de Fiore. Celestine probably wanted to ring in a new age of the Spirit, with a strong monastic dimension, in preparation for the end times.

In a loose way, perhaps we can see today the rise of “movements” and some of the charismatic elements of these movements – as we still emerge from the horror of the 20th century and battle the dictatorship of relativism, as being part of a pattern that repeats itself through our history after the Ascension of the Lord, the end times. Every generation has sensed itself to be in the end times. But I digress.

Poor Pope Celestine couldn’t hold it all together. He abdicated on 13 December 1294 after only 5 months as Pope. The cardinals elected Benedict Caetani, who took the name Boniface… Boniface VIII.

The former Pope-monk but once-again-Peter fled Rome and went to his hermitage back in the hills of central Italy and Apulia. He tried to get out of Italy to Greece, but he was apprehended in June 1295 and brought to Boniface. Boniface imprisoned him. Peter Celestine died a year later on 19 May 1296 and was buried in L’Aqulia.

He was canonized in 1313. He was removed from the universal calendar of the Roman Church in 1969, but he is still venerated in the Abruzzi area of Italy. The church in which he was interred was damaged in the earthquake that rocked central Italy some time ago.

Benedict XVI visited the church. More on that, below.

Dante, in his Divine Comedy, in Inferno 3, places in hell someone whom we think may be Peter Celestine V. Dante calls him “the shade of him who in his cowardice made the great refusal”. “The great refusal” being the rejection of the highest office to which one might ascend in this world, with all the duties and responsibilities and implications for the bonds of society that that office carries.

A Pope in hell?

Remember that the Divine Comedy is about, among other things, the interrelationship of the secular and the sacred. Dante was writing political theory in the Divine Comedy. His Hell is constructed to reflect the ways in which people harm not just themselves, but also the bonds of society.

Dante would have hated Peter Celestine’s abdication also because he opened the way for Dante’s great enemy Boniface VIII, whom he detested.

If you have never read the Divine Comedy, you should.

You could start with Esolen’s (Part 1, Inferno HERE) or perhaps with Dorothy Sayer’s fine version (Part 1, Inferno, HERE). There are many renderings to choose from.

When Pope Benedict visited the tomb of Pope Celestine he left his palium there, that first one he used, the longer paleo-palium.

An interesting gesture. O, my prophetic soul.

From the 2005 Martyrologium Romanum:

6. Ad Castrum Fumorense prope Alatrium in Latio, natalis sancti Petri Caelestini, qui, cum vitam eremeticam in Aprutio ageret, fama sanctitatis et miraculorum clarus, octogenarius Romanus Pontifex electus est, assumpto nomine Caelestini Quinti, sed eodem anno munere se abdicavit et solitudinem recedere maluit.

Posted in Linking Back | Tagged St. Peter Celestine
6 Comments

Card. Burke calls for explicit consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart

Posted on 19 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

In spite of official explanations of still hot topics concerning the Fatima apparitions and ongoing messages received by Sr. Lucia, I still have questions.

Concerning one of those questions…

At LifeSite I’ve read the following:

BREAKING: Cardinal Burke calls for Consecration of Russia to Immaculate Heart of Mary

ROME, May 19, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Raymond Burke issued a call this morning for the Catholic faithful to “work for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

Cardinal Burke, who is one of the four Cardinals who have asked Pope Francis for a clarification of Amoris Laetitia, made his appeal at the Rome Life Forum, [prelude to Rome’s March For Life] in the month of the centenary of Our Lady of Fatima’s first apparition to the three shepherd children.

Burke is the former prefect of the Apostolic Signatura and current Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

In a comprehensive address on “The Secret of Fatima and a New Evangelization,” Cardinal Burke, in the presence of fellow dubia Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, outspoken Kazakhstan Bishop Athanasius Schneider and over 100 life and family leaders from 20 nations, said that the triumph of the Immaculate Heart would mean much more than the ending of world wars, and the physical calamities that Our Lady of Fatima predicted.

“As horrible as are the physical chastisements associated with man’s disobedient rebellion before God, infinitely more horrible are the spiritual chastisements for they have to do with the fruit of grievous sin: eternal death,” he said.

He expressed agreement with one of the foremost Fatima scholars, Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité, who said that the promised triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary undoubtedly refers firstly to “the victory of the Faith, which will put an end to the time of apostasy, and the great shortcomings of the Church’s pastors.”

Turning to the current situation in the Church in light of Our Lady of Fatima’s revelations, Burke said:

The teaching of the Faith in its integrity and with courage is the heart of the office of the Church’s pastors: the Roman Pontiff, the Bishops in communion with the See of Peter, and their principal co-workers, the priests. For that reason, the Third Secret is directed, with particular force, to those who exercise the pastoral office in the Church. Their failure to teach the faith, in fidelity to the Church’s constant teaching and practice, whether through a superficial, confused or even worldly approach, and their silence endangers mortally, in the deepest spiritual sense, the very souls for whom they have been consecrated to care spiritually. The poisonous fruits of the failure of the Church’s pastors is seen in a manner of worship, of teaching and of moral discipline which is not in accord with Divine Law.
The call for the consecration of Russia is for some controversial, but Cardinal Burke addressed the reasons for his appeal simply and straightforwardly. “The requested consecration is at once a recognition of the importance which Russia continues to have in God’s plan for peace and a sign of profound love for our brothers and sisters in Russia,” he said.

“Certainly, Pope Saint John Paul II consecrated the world, including Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, 1984,” said Cardinal Burke. “But, today, once again, we hear the call of Our Lady of Fatima to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart, in accord with her explicit instruction.”

The want for the ‘explicit’ mention of Russia in the consecration as requested by Our Lady was desired by Pope John Paul II, but not undertaken due to pressure from counselors. This fact was confirmed most recently by the official representative of Pope Francis at the Fatima anniversary celebration last week in Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

Speaking on May 13, Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, former president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, recalled his conversation with Pope John Paul II after the 1984 consecration, or “entrustment,” which took place March 25, when the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was in Rome.

“Obviously, for a long time [the pope] had dealt with that significant mission which the Mother of God had given to the seer children there,” Cordes said. “However, he held back to mention Russia explicitly, because the Vatican diplomats had urgently asked him not to mention this country because otherwise political conflicts might perhaps arise.”

For those who may still object to calling for the consecration of Russia, Cardinal Burke recalled the words of Pope St. John Paul II who in 1982 during his consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart noted: “Mary’s appeal is not for just once. Her appeal must be taken up by generation after generation, in accordance with the ever new ‘signs of the times’. It must be unceasingly returned to. It must ever be taken up anew.”

Instructing the faithful, Cardinal Burke taught that Our Lady of Fatima “provides for us the means to go faithfully to her Divine Son and to seek from Him the wisdom and strength to bring His saving grace to a profoundly troubled world.”

[…]

More great stuff from Cardinal Burke over there, including great spiritual tips.

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, Be The Maquis, Hard-Identity Catholicism, New Evangelization, Our Solitary Boast | Tagged Card. Burke, Our Lady of Fatima, Russia
14 Comments

Hate-filled lib liturgist attacks Benedict XVI for his praise of Card. Sarah

Posted on 19 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Recently Pope Benedict penned a short piece for a future re-printing of Card. Sarah’s splendid book on silence.

Predictably, the liberal hate machine has lashed out at Benedict, just as they lashed out at Card. Sarah last year when he suggested that priests should say Mass ad orientem.

For example, ultra-liberal liturgist Andrea Grillo spewed bile in the direction of Benedict XVI, while splashing dreck on Card. Sarah.

Grillo provides a great example of the best talent of true liberal ideologues: They hate like no one else… especially when they are scared.

This comes via Cittadellaeditrice.com in my fast and admittedly odd translation. Grillo is one of those stereotypical Italian pinheaded scholastics who is ensorceled by the magic of his own purple-patch prose:

If I were Card. Sarah, I’d be worried. [Hang on to that idea, given at the top, because it connects to the end.] This isn’t the first time that it has happened that J. Ratzinger wrote a foreword or afterword for questionable books or authors. I recall, for example, the preface for little-to-be-recommended Alcuin Reid, whose theories and whose person have raised scientific and ecclesial perplexities across half the world, and that instead Ratzinger tried to recommend as if he were an authority. Also in this case the words that press agencies are reporting are enough to indicate a real and true car crash. It’s as if Ratzinger had, all of a sudden, resigned his resignation and wanted to influence the decisions of his successor. Let’s see if we can adequately point out the delicate and inappropriate aspects of this intrusion (It. intervento can mean a range of things, but given Grillo’s acid, this works best).

Sarah has shown, for years, a significant inadequacy and incompetence in the field of liturgy. His eccentric theories and his rigidity are impeding the work of the Congregation to carry out its ordinary work.

We know also that the choice of Sarah was made by Pope Francis by listening to the opinion of his predecessor. For this reason the praise that the predecessor gives to the successor rings a little strange on a point about which he contributed to cause this failure. [No no… Grillo’s tortured Italian isn’t verbose. No. Not at all. My heavens how he is full of himself!]

[… There’s more like this, but that suffices….]

Beyond the institutional questions, there remains only one consideration which regards the res liturgica. And here it is necessary to observe, as always, that the praise of the incompetent renders the praise incompetent. [” l’elogio dell’incompetente rende incompetente l’elogio” … this is double-edged. Is this an objective genitive? It could be that Grillo is calling Benedict the incompetent one, not Sarah.] The liturgy must be entrusted to “truly good hands”. They, if God wishes, can be defined and determined without the obsession to want to impose on the Church a “Reform of the Reform”. [This is what terrifies these lib hacks.] For this, Card. Sarah is completely inadequate. Even if he is recommended by the Bishop Emeritus of Rome.

This piece by Grillo reveals how nervous liturgical libs are.

He’s so very afraid that even a little old nonagenarian locked up in the back of the Vatican gardens set him off on a spittle-flecked nutty.

Perhaps he should take to heart what Benedict wrote about Card. Sarah’s book:

It is better to keep silence and be Christians than to talk and not to be.

Summorum Pontificum is working. Men like Sarah have the goods on guys like Grillo, not the other way around. Sarah’s book, The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise, and Benedict’s praise have worked like the sprinkling of Holy Water on a demon infested basement.

Lastly, pieces like this demonstrate fully why you, dear reader, should buy copies of Card. Sarah’s book and make sure that every priest you know has one.

The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise.

US HERE – UK HERE

Posted in Benedict XVI, Liberals, Throwing a Nutty | Tagged Andrea Grillo, Benedict XVI, Robert Card. Sarah
10 Comments

Happy Anniversary Papa Ganganelli!

Posted on 19 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Everyone, make plans to party. Today is the anniversary of the elevation of His Holiness Pope Clement XIV to the See of Peter in 1769. His family name is Ganganelli.

One good way to celebrate the glorious event of his election would be to order some Papa Ganganelli Swag!

>>HERE<<

As a matter of fact, there is an fairly recent addition to the Clement XIV items. There is now available a “mega mug” which holds, not 17… not 18… not 19… but 20 whole ounces!

To give you an idea of the size… here is the 20 oz. version next to the regular size. (I gave my last Clement mug to The Great Roman™ last week, so here’s the splendid Benedict XIV edition.)

Enjoy in your new Clement XVI mug some….

MYSTIC MONK COFFEE!

When you are overcome with emotion at the thought of Clement XIV, of happy memory, and of his prudent decisions for the good of our Holy Mother the Church, such his suppression of the Jesuits, your thoughts surely turn to Mystic Monk Coffee… if they don’t turn first to Veuve Cliquot… but I digress. YES… to Mystic Monk Coffee! Think of the wonderful evenings with friends you can spend while talking about the excellent deeds of Papa Ganganelli.

These pleasant evenings with friends can be yours. So can these beautiful Papa Ganganelli mugs and shirts!

Don’t suppress your urge for that great mug of Mystic Monk Coffee! That would be … jesuitical! You don’t want to be jesuitical do you? No, of course you don’t.

>>HERE<<

Also, a note about ordering MYSTIC MONK COFFEE… I received a note from the Wyoming Carmelites that when orders come to them from my link (HERE), but the orders are not placed right away, I don’t get any credit for your outstanding decision to enjoy their products. Quite a few orders come in as unqualified, even though they came from my site. Sooooo, if it has been awhile since you have clicked my link for your coffee and tea acquisition, remind yourself to come back here right away and reenter the Monks’ site via the familiar graphic that always resides on my sidebar.

Meanwhile… before I left Rome I visited the Pope’s tomb in Ss. Dodici Apostoli.

As you can see, he is conferring his blessing on the mugs.

Posted in In The Wild | Tagged Clement XIV, Mystic Monk Coffee
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It’s confirmed: Never give up! Never surrender!

Posted on 19 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At RenewAmerica, Matt C. Abbot posted about an encouraging event: confirmations conferred in the Extraordinary Form. The account is a good read. It included the following with my emphases and comments:

[…]

I discovered the Latin Mass in my early adulthood and attended occasionally. Some years ago, my husband finally agreed to try to attend. He did not feel like he could follow the Mass at first, [at first… but that doesn’t last very long] and felt lost. We also discovered the Una Voce group at our parish, which was one state over, but only 30 minutes from our home.

During some of our meetings I found out about the extraordinary form (EF) Confirmation, which was being held at select parishes around the country. [For example HERE] One mother was actively seeking to get EF Confirmation for her son at our parish but had little success, although the pastor, a canon lawyer, seemed very interested. Perhaps it was not the right time, but he said he would look into it.

Several years passed with no real progress, or so we thought. I started to ask our pastor as well. We got the same answer: that he was looking into it, and that he would be interested. Finally, my friend said: ‘We should get a man to ask!’ So my husband did, and lo and behold, we got the affirmative – our pastor would seek permission from Archbishop Kurtz of Louisville. I was almost sure the archbishop would say no. Sometime later, I asked our priest again, and he said that the archbishop wanted to do it and was excited about the idea! We were thrilled! [¡Hagan lío!]

[…]

The moral of the story is: persevere. You need to keep advancing the ball.

Never give up! Never surrender!

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, Be The Maquis, Brick by Brick, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM | Tagged Archbp. Kurtz, Sacrament of Confirmation
9 Comments

“One will see cardinals opposing cardinals”. An example and a request.

Posted on 19 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At Akita, Japan, Our Lady is purported to have said:

“The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres (other priests); churches and altars will be sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.

Today we have an example of a cardinal against a cardinal. While we grant that cardinals have always been against cardinals, today’s conflicts are particularly disturbing. The stakes are very high, the points of dispute are serious, and the role of social media amplifies the confusion.

CRUX and other outlets report that Oscar Card. Rodriguez Maradiaga bitterly attacked Raymond Card. Burke and indulged even in name-calling.

[…]

He was among four cardinals who submitted a set of questions, called dubia, to Francis, seeking to dispel what they described as “grave disorientation and great confusion” created by the document.

In the new interview, Maradiaga comes out swinging.

“That cardinal who sustains this,” Maradiaga said, referring to the criticism of Amoris, “is a disappointed man, in that he wanted power and lost it. He thought he was the maximum authority in the United States.

“He’s not the magisterium,” Maradiaga said, referring to the authority to issue official teaching. “The Holy Father is the magisterium, and he’s the one who teaches the whole Church. This other [person] speaks only his own thoughts, which don’t merit further comment.

“They are the words,” Maradiaga said, “of a poor man.”

Maradiaga also criticized conservative schools of thought in Catholicism, of which Burke is often seen as a symbol.

“These currents of the Catholic right are persons who seek power and not the truth, and the truth is one,” he said. “If they claim to find some ‘heresy’ in the words of Francis, they’re making a big mistake, because they’re thinking only like men and not as the Lord wants.

“What sense does it have to publish writings against the pope, which don’t damage him but ordinary people? What does a right-wing closed on certain points accomplish? Nothing!

“Ordinary people are with the pope, this is completely clear,” Maradiaga said. “I see that everywhere.

“Those who are proud, arrogant, who believe they have a superior intellect … poor people! Pride is also a form of poverty,” he said.

“The greatest problem, however, is the disorientation that’s created among people when they read affirmations of bishops and cardinals against the Holy Father,” he said.

Maradiaga called his fellow cardinals to loyalty.

“I think that one of the qualities we cardinals [should have] is loyalty,” he said. “Even if we don’t all think the same way, we still have to be loyal to Peter.”

Whoever doesn’t offer that loyalty, he said, “is just seeking attention.”

[…]

In the past, Card. Rodriguez Maradiaga also publicly attacked Card. Müller, Prefect of the CDF.

Clearly Card. Rodriguez has not taken the time to get to know Card. Burke personally. I have. The judgement of Card. Burke which Card. Rodriguez has somewhat rashly asserted is, quite simply, the opposite of the truth. I don’t doubt, however, that he sincerely believes what he said about his brother in the College.

I know that many of you say the Rosary each day. I suggest that you say a decade of your Rosary for Card. Rodriguez Maradiaga.

The moderation queue is ON.

Posted in Liberals, The Coming Storm | Tagged Card. Burke, Card. Rodriguez Maradiaga
29 Comments

Formation of a new “Latin Mass Society of Central NJ”

Posted on 18 May 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

For a while now, I’ve been working with the Tridentine Mass Society of the Diocese of Madison.

Since I’ve been mentioning it on the blog, I’ve received notes from all over that people are forming their own societies where they are. I like to think that, perhaps, our TMSM has given some inspiration to others.

Today I received this from a reader, who is also a subscribed donor here:

I would like to inform you of some great news from the Diocese of Metuchen, NJ.

The newly formed Latin Mass Society of Central NJ will be celebrating a Solemn High Mass on 15 June, 7 pm at Our Lady of Peace, Edison. We are hoping this will be the beginning of many more celebrations of the Traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of Metuchen.

All of the clergy involved are local Diocesan clergy, and the music is under direction of Mr. Anthony Nardino, the music director of St. Peter the Apostle Church, New Brunswick, and the music director of the Rutgers University Catholic Student Association. Some members of the schola are alumni of the Catholic Student Association (like myself) so we are hoping that more students and young adults are able to come.

We are currently spreading the word to as many people as we can, but would you be able to spread the news to your readers, some of whom may be in New Jersey and in close proximity to this Mass?

Thank you for all that you do as a priest and all that you do with your blog. I would not have discovered the beauty of Catholic tradition if it wasn’t for stumbling across your blog 3 years ago when I was in college.

Linked here is the Facebook event: HERE

I am delighted to hear about the formation of the Latin Mass Society of Central NJ.

Kudos!