Posts

Showing posts from February, 2018

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Lent 2018

Image
Click on Image to Enlarge

Fiddler Natalie MacMaster: mother and musician.

The Catholic Register (Toronto) offers an article on well known Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster . Mother of seven home-schooled children (... that fact speaks to MacMaster's willingness to practice what she "preaches" ...), MacMaster's remarks are a useful guide to evangelization in the public square. The vehicle through which she communicates something of the Catholic Faith is, of course, her music. By reminding people that music requires a particular orientation of mind in order to appreciate it as a thing of deeper meaning than common distractions, she provides a meaningful witness to the necessity of having a habit of mind which allows one to approach life with integrity. Appreciating or embracing the spiritual life, like music, requires a mind willing to go deeper, a mind formed by beauty that recognizes and embraces beauty, a mind thus capable of embracing truth. How does one acquire that orientation to truth, to beauty and to goodness? God freely of

Food for Lent: Blessed John Henry Newman on self denial.

Image
Our desert with Christ begins. A series of Lenten sermons by Blessed John Henry Newman from the Newman Reader: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume7/sermon7.html Sermon 7. The Duty of Self-denial "Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child." Psalm cxxxi. 2. {86} SELF-DENIAL of some kind or other is involved, as is evident, in the very notion of renewal and holy obedience. To change our hearts is to learn to love things which we do not naturally love—to unlearn the love of this world; but this involves, of course, a thwarting of our natural wishes and tastes. To be righteous and obedient implies self-command; but to possess power we must have gained it; nor can we gain it without a vigorous struggle, a persevering warfare against ourselves. The very notion of being religious implies self-denial, because by nature we do not love religion. Self-denial, then, is a

An Ordinariate Ash Wednesday 2018: Penitential Office for the Blessing and Imposition of Ashes

Image
The following text is from the Mass booklet used by the Ordinariate community of The Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman, Victoria, BC. Bold type indicates text prayed by all, clergy, altar servers and the congregation. The practice at the Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman is that all receive the blessed ashes on their foreheads while kneeling at the Foot of the Altar. Ash Wednesday PENITENTIAL OFFICE FOR THE BLESSING AND IMPOSITION OF ASHES All stand. The following antiphon is sung by the choir: Antiphon: Exaudi nos (Ps 69:17, 1) Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving-kindness is comfortable: turn thee unto me according to the multitude of thy mercies. (Ps) Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto my soul. Glory be… Hear me… The Priest, facing the People, says: Brethren, it has been the custom in the Church from ancient times to observe with great devotion the days of our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection, and to prepare for t

Archbishop Chaput on Lent: smashing our miserable little concordats with sin.

—H/T Fr. Carl Reid A read worthy of the attention of popes, pastors and people. + + + Toward a deeper experience of Lent By Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. http://catholicphilly.com/2018/02/archbishop-chaput-column/toward-a-deeper-experience-of-lent/ History is a great teacher, sometimes in unusual and very personal ways. Here’s an example. Reading the Reichskonkordat (“Reich concordat” with the German state) today, 85 years after its 1933 signing, sparks some interesting thoughts. Structured as a treaty to govern the relations between the Holy See and German government, the text is remarkably positive. It’s also thorough. As deals go, this was a good one. The state got a stable legal relationship with a well-organized, potentially troublesome, and internationally connected religious minority. The Church got protection for her people. A few problematic passages in the text do exist. Article 14.2 obliges the Church to consult the German Reich o

Divine Worship - Ordinariate Study Missal

Image
H/T Peregrinations Divine Worship - Ordinariate Study Missal - available April 23rd. Pre-order option available. Catholic Truth Society:  http://www.ctsbooks.org/divine-worship-study-missal Description from CTS: A new, smaller-sized ritual edition of the Divine Worship Missal, useful for reference and liturgical planning. These texts for the celebration of Mass have been approved and promulgated by the Holy See for use in the Personal Ordinariates established under the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus. This Missal will foster the noble and worthy celebration of the Sacred Liturgy in the Ordinariates worldwide, and provide an essential study text for all who love the Church’s worship. Includes the Order of Mass, Proper of Time and Sanctoral cycle with votive, ritual and Masses for the dead with all the main liturgical texts set to music.

Bishop's Appeal 2018: "Zeal for thy house consumes me." Bishop's Message.

Image
Mount Calvary Catholic Church, Baltimore The 2018 Bishop’s Appeal P.O. Box 4301 Houston, Texas 77210 346.247.2208 | giving@ordinariate.net ordinariate.net/bishops-appeal QUESTIONS? Contact Jenny Faber: 346.247.2208 or giving@ordinariate.net Donations https://ordinariate.net/give-to-ba18 Feb. 1, 2018 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As I refect on the growth of the Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter over last year, I recall the words of Psalm 69: “Zeal for thy house consumes me.” During the past 12 months, our mission diocese established new communities in Kentucky, Georgia, and Southern California. We launched intensive formation programs for more than 20 candidates studying for the diaconate and priesthood. We received two new seminarians, and I ordained the Ordinariate’s first celibate seminarian a priest. The photo above ( click here for webpage/image link ) is from the consecration of Mount Calvary Church in Baltimore — one of two churches conse

Knights for A Third Millennium. Archbishop Charles Chaput: Memory, Sex, and the Making of “The New Man” (CWR)

—H/T Catholic World Report Memory, Sex, and the Making of “The New Man” The full text of the speech given by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. at the “Into the Breach” men’s conference held in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday, February 3rd can be found at the following link: http://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/02/04/memory-sex-and-the-making-of-the-new-man/ [...] Edited for length. Exactly 900 years ago, in A.D. 1118-19, a small group of men came together in Jerusalem to form a religious community. They were pilgrims. The First Crusade had retaken the city from Muslim rule in 1099. The men, who were all from Europe’s knightly order, had come looking for a life of common prayer and service. They got both, but not in the way they intended. As warriors, the men had skills. As knights, they came from respected families with important connections. The roads leading to Jerusalem and other holy sites were infested with brigands and Muslim raiders that would rob, r

Beauty Attracts: Patrick Simons on the Ordinariate Mass

An excerpt from an article at: https://practicalponderings.wordpress.com/ Getting More Out of Mass (Part I of II) Or Why I Fell in Love with the Ordinariate Form of the Mass —by Patrick Simons https://practicalponderings.wordpress.com/2018/01/28/getting-more-out-of-mass-part-i-of-ii/ (I)n 2014, on a whim, we visited a newly formed Parish of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter whose pastor was the high school history teacher of one of our sons.  This was my first experience with the “Anglican Use” or “Ordinariate Form” Mass. Although the gathering space was a nondescript classroom (in fact, quite ugly), I was immediately struck by the beauty of the liturgy.  Having read the Vatican II document Sacrosanctum Concilium years before, I had for years felt that the reforms intended by the Council had not been implemented well.  I had, in fact, had multiple discussions (er, debates?) with various priests over the years in which I contended that the most f

Patrimonial Blessings: Grace Before A Meal

Begin and end with the Sign of the Cross: In the Name of the Father... . Bless, O Lord, this food to our use and us to Thy service, and keep us ever mindful of the needs of others. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The opinions expressed herein are largely those of the blog author. Every effort is made to conform to Church teaching. Comments are welcome.