I received a couple notes about where the word “reconciliation” comes from. Odd. Anyway, rather than write it all out here is a page from a dictionary of Latin etymology, Ernout Meillet. It derives from ancient words for “call”. Look … Read More →
From a reader… QUAERITUR: During my recent confession, the words the priest used to absolve me was: “I release you from your sins in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” Is it a big deal saying “release” … Read More →
From a reader: Short, short version: my ailing dad thinks he received (and is satisfied with) absolution from an episcopalian “priest” — do I press the point or trust in the Lord’s Mercy on this one? My father (70) has been away … Read More →
Huge news. This was under embargo till noon, Rome time, which must be honored. [UPDATE: The Bollettino is now available HERE] The Year of Mercy begins 8 December 2015 until 20 November 2016. It is about to be announced that the Holy Father has sent … Read More →
From a reader… QUAERITUR: After I became Catholic, some friends introduced me to tradition and I began to attend a SSPX parish with them. I went to confession at this SSPX parish for several years. I have heard that the validity of … Read More →
From a reader… I’m a convert to the Church, so I have a large span of my life with sins that I’m not entirely sure of. I confessed a series of sins (all of the same kind) as doubtful, but then a while … Read More →
From a reader… QUAERITUR: I went to confession this morning preparation for Ascension Mass, the priest was wonderful, yet when it came to the absolution part, i could see through the holes of the screen that the priest didn’t make the sign of … Read More →
From a reader… I went to confession! It had been 10 years. Your encouragement helped me get up the nerve to go. The hardest part was actually going to the church. I wrote down every single thing I wanted to … Read More →
From a reader: Is it appropriate for a priest to be hearing confessions while Extraordinary Form Mass has started? My priest seemed to think it was never done in the “old” days as he called it. Yes, confessions were often … Read More →
From a reader… QUAERITUR: Does a priest have to wear a stole during confession? I surprised a priest and asked for confession and he did without a stole. No, a priest does not have to wear a stole. The stole is … Read More →
I saw a piece at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about a request of the Ass. of U.S. Catholic Priests to the USCCB’s Pres. Archbp. Kurtz. The Ass. of U.S. Catholic Priests have requested: expanded opportunities for sacramental confession and reconciliation … Read More →
Pope Francis is nothing if not interesting. When he goes off text or speaks off the cuff… anything can happen. The usual result is that we are left stopped in our tracks and scratching our heads, trying to figure … Read More →
UPDATED: 14 Nov: ORIGINAL Published on: Nov 13, 2014 At the French language site L’Homme Nouveau there is an interesting post about a question a priest posed to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He asked the Congregation: «Un confesseur … Read More →
From a reader… QUAERITUR: Dear Fr. Z, I came upon your blog after a very disappointing encounter at church today and in a way, I was looking for some kind of comfort. Please bear with me as I attempt to … Read More →
From a reader… QUAERITUR: At a local youth rally, the kids were told to confess one of their sin in the confessional. There were multiple priests present along with the bishop. Are their sins forgiven? First, if that recounting is … Read More →
Fr. Z kudos to the Archbp. of San Antonio. From the Express-News: Confessions to be heard for 24 hours at downtown church SAN ANTONIO — The sacrament of confession will be offered for 24 hours straight by a team of … Read More →
At CMR Pat Archbold offers that, if Pope Francis can reach out so cordially to Protestants gathered at a conference, even send a video, then why shouldn’t he reach out to the priests and bishops of the SSPX. A darn … Read More →
What is it I have been shouting? From CNA: Pope: Be courageous, go to confession Vatican City, Feb 19, 2014 / 04:57 am (CNA).- During his Wednesday audience, Pope Francis encouraged the pilgrims filling St. Peter’s Square to receive the … Read More →
From a priest: Do the faithful have the right to anonymous confession? If anonymous confession is not available, are they excused from confession until they can get to an anonymous confession? Do priests have a right to anonymous confession? Can … Read More →
From a reader: My daughter came home from confession last night and said Fr. M was using his Ipad during her confession. She was behind the wall/grate but you can easily see through it. She also heard him whispering while … 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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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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