I confess that I initially sent back a terse note to this one: “You are wrong.” Having Reconsidered, more can be said… From a reader… QUAERITUR: Today I was an Alter [sigh] Server at Mass and upon returning home … Read More →
From a reader… Our parish priest does not care for girl servers but allows it. Today we went to daily Mass and a new girl was serving (which was arranged by one of the moms, I don’t believe Father knew about it), … Read More →
The often amusing Eye of the Tiber has this: The last male altar server in the United States has officially called it quits, the boy’s family is reporting this morning. The 3-year altar server veteran, who remained at his post as cross bearer despite pressure … Read More →
UPDATE 29 Jan: I had this note from a reader: Check out how much the faithful have donated to support Fr. Illo in his decision for altar boys at Star of the Sea- $22K so far in 1 day! www.gofundme.com/kvc80g God bless you! … Read More →
From a reader… QUAERITUR: Father, Am I correct in saying that Cassock & Surplice is male attire and that girls should NOT wear it? And if this is the case why do people let it happen? I am taking over … Read More →
From a reader: On the way home from Mass this evening, my daughter, who is a leader in our parish’s CYM and very active in the Church, mentioned that she was going to an Altar server meeting this week. So, … Read More →
From the amusing Eye of the Tiber comes this species-ist hit piece. Why pick on trolls? Tifton, GA–Catholic troll Phillip Karabin, writing under the handle P90XcelsisDeo, has been patiently scouring the internet looking to passionately defend everything he holds dear, his friends are … Read More →
From a reader: I belong to a parish with a good Shepard. I also have two wonderful daughters, one of which has been an alter server (she is 12 by the way). Our priest tried to walk back the use … Read More →
I am on the road, and it is hard for me to work with this, but here is a first go at something which I think is pretty important. The following article copy-pasted from the PDF of the 8/23/2012 edition … Read More →
From a reader: I’m wondering what type of assent are we as Catholics supposed to give to the Vatican II council? Also do we have an obligation to agree with things like Communion in the hand, and other parts in … Read More →
You may recall that a priest of the Diocese of Arlington, Fr. Michael Taylor of Corpus Christi Church in South Riding, VA, made a decision in favor of male-only service at the altar (not against girls, but in favor of … Read More →
Remember that recent Washington Post poll about altar girls? The poll shifted after I posted about it. An reader alerted me to the fact that something rather odd has occurred. You decide. Here is how things stood and how they … Read More →
I have noted an interesting trend. When a parish priest opts for male only service at the altar (i.e., no altar girls) he is attacked in the press. I don’t mean the local shopper insert, either. The priest is now … Read More →
From a readerette (as is): I am a lady of an age group that never was allowed on the alter. I always love to see the little server girls and so wish it had been allowed in my day. I … Read More →
On WaPo we find this tendentious poll. I’m not suggesting how you should vote… but… Here are the results so far. UPDATE 22 Nov 1324 GMT: UPDATE 22 Nov 1552 GMT: UPDATE 22 Nov 2134 GMT: UPDATE 23 Nov 2206 … Read More →
If you are a blogger, may I ask that you link to this poll? It would be good to have a large sampling. UPDATE 1407 GMT: And also…. added as an afterthought, so the numbers might not match the poll … Read More →
The formidable William Oddie, a columnist of the UK’s best Catholic weekly, The Catholic Herald, has an opinion piece on the 1994 interpretation of the Latin Church’s Canon Law which permitted service at the altar by females. Keep in mind … Read More →
I have been getting some… interesting, I think could be the word … email since I posted my praise and defense of Fr. Lankeit, Rector of the Cathedral in Phoenix where the excellent Bp. Olmsted presides. For those of you … Read More →
I was alerted to this article from The Arizona Republic with a note from a reader saying: “The coverage is predictably bad, but the facts are good.” You may remember that I posted about Fr. Lankeit last January when he … Read More →
NCFishwrap today surfed the little server girl issue over its mosh pit. catholic reporters that that are, they left off attacking Bp. Finn for a minute or two to post – at long last- the news that the PCED has … Read More →
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“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
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The most evident mark of God’s anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clerics who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds.
St. John Eudes
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"But if, in any layman who is indeed imbued with literature, ignorance of the Latin language, which we can truly call the 'catholic' language, indicates a certain sluggishness in his love toward the Church, how much more fitting it is that each and every cleric should be adequately practiced and skilled in that language!" - Pius XI
"Let us realize that this remark of Cicero (Brutus 37, 140) can be in a certain way referred to [young lay people]: 'It is not so much a matter of distinction to know Latin as it is disgraceful not to know it.'" - St. John Paul II
Grant unto thy Church, we beseech Thee, O merciful God, that She, being gathered together by the Holy Ghost, may be in no wise troubled by attack from her foes. O God, who by sin art offended and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy people making supplication unto Thee,and turn away the scourges of Thine anger which we deserve for our sins. Almighty and Everlasting God, in whose Hand are the power and the government of every realm: look down upon and help the Christian people that the heathen nations who trust in the fierceness of their own might may be crushed by the power of thine Arm. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
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