The Holy Father baptized the baby of a couple who are only civilly married. ¡Vaya lío! From the excellent Canon Law blog of Ed Peters… who is probably smart not to have an open combox. Or .. maybe he just … Read More →
This is interesting. Today Pope Francis followed the custom of other Popes and baptized babies in the Sistine Chapel. But wait! There’s more! I read in La Stampa that the parents of one of the babies isn’t married. That is to … Read More →
Just before abdicating, Benedict XVI (the Pope of Christian Unity) approved a decree to make a change to the Novus Ordo or Ordinary Form Rite of Baptism: In the decree published in “Notitiae”, 557-558, Ian.-Feb. 2013, 1-2, pagg. 54-56, “communitas … Read More →
From a reader: We are planning our daughter’s baptism next month and would appreciate your guidance regarding an issue that has arisen. Our parish does group baptisms twice a month outside of Mass. While our pastor was willing to do … Read More →
NB: In a comment below, a participant posted some points about when the paschal candle may be used in the Extraordinary Form. Don’t just read my answer and then move on without also reading that comment. You will know which … Read More →
From a priest: After 17 years as a priest I’m surprised I can’t track down an answer to this, but even our diocesan faculties booklet is unclear. A priest of our diocese baptized an infant whose parents are registered in … Read More →
From a reader: Can the Churching ritual be performed directly after the baptism, or should it be done on a different day? I ask this for clarity, as this will be the priest’s first time performing a baptism in the … Read More →
From a reader: I have a friend who is Mormon and she claims that they are indeed Christian but something in me says they are not. She claims that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and her Lord and … Read More →
From a reader: A childhood friend of mine formerly a catholic “converted” to an Eastern Orthodox Church to get married. Now they are expecting their first child and have asked me to stand as sponsor for their child in their … Read More →
This should cause some discussion! From CNA: Bishop Aquila receives Pope’s praise for reordering sacraments By David Kerr Rome, Italy, Mar 8, 2012 / 03:58 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo said he is delighted to have first-hand … Read More →
From a reader: Our pastor has a policy of no infant baptism during Lent. We have baby due prior to Ash Wednesday and would like to baptize son after. I am under impression canon law mandates infant baptism soon after … Read More →
A few people asked me today via email about the validity of a baptism wherein someone used the hand of a dead person to pour the water, someone moving the hand. A rare scenario, of course, and one that is … Read More →
This from “down under“. Mum loses biblical row in court by: Shelley Hadfield From: Herald Sun A COURT has been forced to intervene in a bitter dispute between estranged parents over whether their seven-year-old daughter should be baptised. A magistrate … Read More →
From a reader: Several months ago, we attended a violin recital in a Methodist church (did not attend their service) and the pastor announced that he would be doing a “beach baptism”, and I imagine that he used the salt … Read More →
From a reader: It’s getting close to my wife’s due date, and since her pregnancy is considered high risk, I wanted to be prepared for every condition. If there is a need to preform an emergency baptism at the hospital … Read More →
From a deacon: I was wondering how safe it is to assume that water flowing over the hair along with the correct words constitutes a valid baptism. I ask because there were just 12 babies baptized in my parish and … Read More →
A while back I fielded a question about the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism in the traditional form, using the older Rituale Romanum. In that discussion the issue of booklets for the use of bystanders came up. The nice … Read More →
From a priest reader: Please excuse my sending this request to you, but I have not been able to find an answer to my questions. A couple have asked me to baptize their soon-to-be-born child, using the EF of Baptism. … Read More →
From a reader: I write inquiring about the validity of my baptism at the SSPX. I approached the Roman Catholic Parish in our area and inquired about this matter. The parish priest told me that i will be given a … Read More →
From a reader: Our fifth child is due on November 24. To allow for the possibility that he might be late, we attempted to schedule a private baptism on Gaudete Sunday. My pastor says that no baptisms can be celebrated … 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
An Old Historian on WDTPRS – Spy Wednesday: The final prayers: “Father: Every Paragraph, Sentence, and Word is Majestic, Meaningful, Uplifting, Promising, Humbling, and it all provides a full measure of…”
Sportsfan on ROME 24/3– Day 7: Oooops!: “From the video it looked like Rapport smelled blood in the water but deliberately slowed down to either twist the…”
Sid Cundiff in NC on ROME 24/3– Day 7: Oooops!: ““Last night ossobuco at humble but reliably good place which hasn’t ever disappointed” Where? Name?”
grateful on ROME 24/3– Day 6: Quiet Day: “It looks like that is loaded with healthy food… hope there are no potholes in Rome.”
teomatteo on ROME 24/3– Day 7: Oooops!: ““…Full moon over Campo De’Fiori” and in a half of moon cycle it will be the New moon over Richmond,…”
Everyone, work to get this into your parish bulletins and diocesan papers.
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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“Until the Lord be pleased to settle, through the instrumentality of the princes of the Church and the lawful ministers of His justice, the trouble aroused by the pride of a few and the ignorance of some others, let us with the help of God endeavor with calm and humble patience to render love for hatred, to avoid disputes with the silly, to keep to the truth and not fight with the weapons of falsehood, and to beg of God at all times that in all our thoughts and desires, in all our words and actions, He may hold the first place who calls Himself the origin of all things.”
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Books which you must have.
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I use this when I travel both in these USA and abroad. Very useful. Fast enough for Zoom. I connect my DMR (ham radio) through it. If you use my link, they give me more data. A GREAT back up.
“He [Satan] will set up a counter-Church which will be the ape of the Church because, he the devil, is the ape of God. It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the anti-Christ that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ. In desperate need for God, whom he nevertheless refuses to adore, modern man in his loneliness and frustration will hunger more and more for membership in a community that will give him enlargement of purpose, but at the cost of losing himself in some vague collectivity.”
“Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops.”
“The modern habit of doing ceremonial things unceremoniously is no proof of humility; rather it proves the offender's inability to forget himself in the rite, and his readiness to spoil for every one else the proper pleasure of ritual.”
- C.S. Lewis
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As for Latin…
"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.
This is really useful when travelling… and also when you aren’t and you need backup internet NOW! I use this for my DMR “Zednet” hotspot when I’m mobile. It’s a ham radio thing.
If you travel internationally, this is a super useful gizmo for your mobile internet data. I use one. If you get one through my link, I get data rewards.
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