A Treasure To Be Shared

Mother Teresa has nothing on me. I'm so proud of my humility. I don't understand why others are so reluctant to recognize me as a prophetic voice in the Church. Chastity is so passé. I'm all for the prosperity gospel. It doesn't matter how many sexual partners you have just as long as you love yourself. Marriage is a prison invented by the patriarchy. Jesus was just a nice guy. (A common diminishment of the Lord's identity.) I don't get why the bread and wine at Mass is so important. After all, it's just bread and wine. (contra the Real Presence ) Love is love. (A popular meaningless trope used by those attempting to justify sinful behaviour.) Our Father/Mother in heaven, holy is your Name. We baptize you in the Name of the Creator, the Redeemer and the Sanctifier. "(T)he Virgin Mary and St. Joseph had the relationship of a normal couple, which involved having sex and having the normal relationship of a couple." - Sister Lucía Caram ( contra the pe

The Council of Trent acknowledged that there were living liturgical traditions, legitimate variations of the Roman Rite, that were worthy of preservation. The Sarum Rite or Use, for one, which inhabited British lands for centuries prior to Trent and for a time continued among recusants during the Tudor persecutions, preserved elements of ancient Christian liturgical custom, east and west, and formed the core of Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer. That legacy, tested and purified, has been returned to the Church in and through the Ordinariate Liturgy. The means by which the legacy is shared blends the vernacular of ancient English spirituality, brewed in Benedictine monasticism, with the Sarum liturgy that loaned shape and content to the Book of Common Prayer synthesized by Thomas Cranmer,  and realizes the insights of the Second Vatican Council. The Sarum Use was an elaborate variant of the ancient Mass and predates the modestly reformed Mass of the Council of Trent by no less than fo

In the Name of the Father + and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy. V. Our help  +  is in the Name of the Lord; R. Who hath made heaven and earth. Responsory based on  Psalm 140 (139) V. Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers; protect me from the violent, who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day. R. Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers. V. They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s; the poison of vipers is on their lips. R. Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers. V. Keep me safe, Lord, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent, who devise ways to trip my feet. R. Keep me safe, Lord, from the hands of the wicked. V. The arrogant have hidden a snare for me; they have spread out the cords of their net and have set traps for me along my path. R. Keep me safe, Lord, from the hands of the wicked. V. I say to the Lord, “You are my God.” Hear, Lord, my cry for mercy. Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, you shie

[ 4 minute read ] How many times do we need to hear from well-informed pundits about the loss of a sense of the sacred before we get up off our couches and dive deeply into the Faith to worship God in spirit and in truth? Quite often, when one is attuned to those websites that challenge one to think with the Church of the ages, the Church of the sainted brethren. Those who most need to hear about the need for rehabilitation - because they are the principal protags massaging theological and liturgical nonsense into the flesh of unsuspecting Catholics - generally aren't disposed to taking ownership for their hefty contributions to the massive drift from the Apostolic Faith. That is not to say that the Church is doomed, or wrecked or whatever. It is enough to say that the Church is hurting due to the sins of her sons and daughters, especially the sins of those offspring who want the Church to be the "Church-of-Today" or the "Church-of-Me". So then, we must care fo

Elijah versus the prophets of Baal [ 4 min read ] A prophet is not without honour except... . From the Catholic Herald an article by John Lavenburg . Bishop Joseph Strickland on the “basic truths” which include: Christ established only the Catholic Church. It is (a) sacrilege for anyone to unworthily receive communion. Marriage is between one man and one woman. Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God and shouldn’t be supported in attempts to reject their biological identity. Sexual activity outside of marriage is a grave sin. The belief that all men and women will be saved regardless of how they live their lives is false and dangerous. In order to follow Jesus Christ all must willingly choose to take up their cross. “We must hold fast to these truths and be wary of any attempts to present an alternative to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or to push for a faith that speaks of dialogue and brotherhood, while attempting to remove the fatherhood of God. (...) When we see

Traditional Latin Mass In addition to the Ordinary Form Mass at Queen of Peace Parish, Esquimalt, BC, the parish also hosts the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and Divine Worship of the thriving Ordinariate community of Saint John Henry Newman. Divine Worship is offered every weekday mornings, and Sundays following the Latin Mass. Mass in the Ordinary Form is offered midday of most weekdays. https://www.rcdvictoria.org/parishes/our-lady-queen-of-peace The 1962 Missal Latin Mass community, homed at Our Lady Queen of Peace in the Diocese of Victoria, BC, under the pastoral care of the Bishop of Victoria, His Excellency the Most Reverend Gary Gordon, was bursting at the seams this past Sunday. The parish regularly welcomes more than a hundred and twenty communicants to the Latin Mass, some driving forty-five minutes to an hour to attend. The Latin Mass meets at Noon on Sundays. The community is thriving and grateful for a home. With the gracious permission of Bishop Gordon, the Latin Mass

[ 6 minute read ] Mean-spirited name calling is a cheap retaliatory ploy that exposes the indecent character of the utterer. What does a faithful Catholic do when a supreme pontiff resorts to name calling and to making derisive comments undeserved by those he has vaguely targeted? You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well. - St Matthew 5:38-40 True - there are times when we must tell it like it is, levelling correction in no uncertain terms with precision and appropriate charitable vigor for the good of souls. And... there are times when silence is the prudent option. What about a priest or a bishop or a pope who tends to splatter his words with diarrhetic force instead of engaging in constructive measured exchanges? Deliver me, O Lord, from evil me

Instituted Acolytes | Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter [ 7 minute read ] Dear Servers, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament helps us recall that we serve Jesus Christ our eternal High Priest. The source and summit of our bond of friendship with Jesus. The Catholic Church teaches that altar servers have a privileged place in liturgical celebrations. They are not just "helpers of the parish priest," but rather, they are servants of Jesus Christ, the eternal High Priest [1]. When altar servers serve at Mass, they experience the presence and activity of Jesus Christ in every liturgy. Jesus is present in the community gathered to pray, in the words of Sacred Scripture, and above all, in the Eucharist [1]. Altar servers have the opportunity to be close to Jesus in the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of their bond of friendship with Him [2]. Evangelization The role of an altar server goes beyond the church walls. They are called to be witnesses of Jesus Chris

[ 11 minute read ] The Holy Eucharist is necessary for the life of Catholics. Zealous faithful Catholics know that. That message has been affirmed, announced, declared, promulgated and shouted by popes, prelates and people and still serious liturgical abuse continues to plague the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church to a degree that millions of souls now wander in confusion and doubt about the Holy Eucharist. Unfortunately, alongside these lights, there are also shadows. In some places the practice of Eucharistic adoration has been almost completely abandoned. In various parts of the Church abuses have occurred, leading to confusion with regard to sound faith and Catholic doctrine concerning this wonderful sacrament. At times one encounters an extremely reductive understanding of the Eucharistic mystery. Stripped of its sacrificial meaning, it is celebrated as if it were simply a fraternal banquet. Furthermore, the necessity of the ministerial priesthood, grounded in apostolic succession

Jules-Jacques Veyrasset - Woman and Child Kneeling Before a Cross (1862) [ 4 minute read ] As one approaches the doors to the parish church, the spiritual faculties begin to expand in anticipation of entering the temple wherein the Blessed Sacrament is tabernacled. Awe, wonder, joy. The Lord continually reaches into our hearts and minds during the Mass. There we are in the Mass, praying the sacred texts that ripple through our souls as waves of light illuminating the shores of our hopes, our joys and our sorrows. The Latin aphorism  cor ad cor loquitur  or heart speaks to heart (first coined by Saint Frances de Sales,  cor cordi loquitur ) was given particular attention by Saint John Henry Newman to "effectively convey the gracious intimacy of man's conformity to Jesus' loving obedience to his Father's divine will unto death." Sonus verborum nostrorum aures percutit; magister intus est  (St. Augustine). When a teacher speaks correctly about holy things - when the