A Treasure To Be Shared

(T)he teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium(.)— Ordinatio Sacerdotalis - - - The zeitgeist demands conformity to the "equal means same" ideology. Jesus' choice of men only to lead His Church is a major hurdle for advocates of "women's ordination". Cardinal-Elect Ladaria Ferrer, Prefect of the CDF, instructs the ignorant. [ An excerpt from CNA/EWTN News ] http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/cdf-prefect-its-definitive-that-women-cant-be-ordained-as-priests CDF Prefect: It’s ‘Definitive’ That Women Can’t Be Ordained as Priests ‘Christ wanted to give this sacrament to the twelve apostles, all men, who, in turn, transmitted it to other men,’ Cardinal-elect Ladaria explained. Hannah Brockhaus/CNA/EWTN News VATICAN CITY —The teaching of the Catholic Church on the impossibility of ordaining women...

What happens when three professors "put people in touch with the true, the beautiful and the good and let the Holy Spirit work(?)” https://churchpop.com/2018/05/25/the-amazing-humanities-dept-that-got-shut-down-after-too-many-students-converted-to-catholicism/ Three professors, Dr. Dennis Quinn, Dr. John Senior, and Dr. Frank Nelick, ran a program called the Integrated Humanities Program at the University of Kansas from 1970 to 1979. A “great books” program that started with the ancient Greeks and led students on a journey up to the present, the motto was Nascantur in Admiratione , translated “Let Them Be Born in Wonder.” [...] The program grew super fast, from 20 students in 1970 to 140 in 1971, and 186 in 1972. But then the conversions started happening . By one estimate, over the 10 year course of the program, more than 100 students decided to join the Catholic Church. Alums of the program include: Archbishop Paul Coakley of the Archdiocese of Oklahom...

Te Deum An abbreviated title commonly given both to the original Latin text and the translations of a hymn in rhythmical prose, of which the opening words, Te Deum laudamus , formed its earliest known title (namely in the Rule of Saint Caesarius for monks, written probably when he was Abbot of Lérins, before AD 502). This longer title is used in the " Rules for Virgins " composed by Saint Caesarius while Archbishop of Arles, and by his second successor in the same see, Saint Aurelian, also in the Rule of Saint Benedict; and generally in earlier literature. The hymn is also sometimes styled Hymnus Ambrosianus , the "Ambrosian Hymn" ; and in the Roman Breviary it is still entitled, at the end of Matins for Sunday, Hymnus SS. Ambrosii et Augustini. — The Te Deum, by H.T. Henry. READ MORE... http://www.canticanova.com/articles/hymns/artd41.htm We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee, the Father e...

The current kerfuffle involving the German bishops who are pro-communion for non-Catholic spouses is an unfortunate distraction, and a serious one at that. Yours truly, once upon a time a non-Catholic enamoured of a lovely Catholic woman, did on a couple of occasions receive Holy Communion before being received into full communion with the Catholic Church. Said woman, my girlfriend at the time—who would also become my sponsor... a bad idea, I might add—asked me to stop receiving Communion. There was no argument from yours truly. I was given good reasons not to receive, among them the obvious—I was not (yet) Catholic. Though my baptism (in a protestant community that held to the Apostolic practice and theology of Trinitiarian Baptism) was valid, and I believed in the Real Presence, I had not yet been received into the Catholic Church. I was receiving Communion out of the genuine but poorly timed and incomplete notion that to so do would bring me closer to my then girlfriend. I w...

Rewind to April 3rd of this year. Fr. De Souza reviews an article by another well known Canadian clergyman who, somewhat surprisingly, given the media-star priest's somewhat unfortunate associates who are not in the respect-the-Magisterium camp, relies on Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) to expose the latest front in the cultural-political wars in Canada. For the full article, click HERE . “Whereas relativism…  seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one’s own ego and desires.” At first it might seem that relativism — you have your truth, I have my truth, but there is no objective truth — should be the opposite of dictatorship. If there is no truth, then there can be no standard to force upon anyone. We just all do our own thing. That relativism cannot last for long. If there are disagreement...

ORDO: Personal Ordinariate of The Chair of Saint Peter Ember Days and Rogation Days have the status of Obligatory Memorials (p.5) . - - - How observing the Ember Days can enhance your spiritual life by Joseph Shaw. http://catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2017/12/20/how-observing-the-ember-days-can-enhance-your-spiritual-life/ Since the earliest centuries, the Church in Rome has celebrated special days of fasting spread over the year, the ‘Ember Days’. They are today a feature of the calendar of the Extraordinary Form, although they are not found in the Universal Calendar of the Ordinary Form. They are also found in the Calendar of the Ordinariate(.) The origin of the term English term ‘ ember ’ is unclear; it may derive from the Old English ‘ ymbren ’, meaning a circuit or revolution. Other European languages use some version of the Latin term, ‘ Quatuor tempora ’, ‘four times’. These celebrations may have been brought to England by St Augustine of Cante...

FYI Schola Cantus Angelorum is pleased to announce the sixth annual Sacred Liturgy Conference to be held in Salem, Oregon, June 27-30, 2018. The theme is “Transfiguration in the Eucharist” and will focus on the Eucharist as the way of beholding Jesus in His glory. Special guest speakers will include Bishop Athanasius Schneider from Astana, Kazakhstan, Rev. Cassian Folsom, OSB from Norcia, Italy, Bishop James D. Conley from Lincoln, NE and many other distinguished presenters. https://sacredliturgyconference.org/ https://sacredliturgyconference.org/register/online/

A kindly Monsignor of the Ordinariate drew my attention to the following article at First Things. Read the entire article linked below: https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2018/05/ring-catholic-bells [An excerpt follows.] Ring, Catholic Bells! by Terence Sweeney The bells at my parish had been silent for years. They rested in their tower quietly amid the wind, rain, and occasional flocks of pigeons. But starting two years ago, a few intrepid parishioners have been pushing the levers, awakening the bell clappers and some neighbors. Our lovely set of named bells ranges from big deep Adolphus (key of E) all the way down to tiny bright Gervaise (F-sharp). Adolphus is larger than a rather more famous bell here in Philadelphia, but he sings of a more perfect liberty. Each note on the scale is represented, but currently two bells— Elizabeth (G-sharp) and Edmund (C-sharp)—are out of commission, making renditions of “Immaculate Mary” or “Fly, Eagles, Fly” a li...

As a relative newcomer to the Ordinariate experience, each Mass is yet another opportunity to become enamoured in the beauty of Divine Worship. Ordinariate Masses make explicit the noble Anglican Patrimony now wed to the Catholic Church. We are now in the Octave of Pentecost, a relatively new experience for yours truly. The inclusion of this Octave, which is missing from the Ordinary Form, makes complete sense. Pentecost is or should be as well celebrated as Christmas, which has its own octave. Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman called the breviary offices of Pentecost and its octave perhaps the “grandest” of the liturgical year. “The Pentecost octave is extremely ancient — developed in the first millennium — and was always seen as ranking beside Christmas and Easter as one of the three great octaves of the liturgical year,” said Peter Kwasniewski, associate professor of theology at Wyoming Catholic College.   Pentecost used to be particularly well known fo...

CREDO IN UNUM DEUM Catholics have need of orthodox theological objects to which they can conform their minds in order to best dispose themselves to God's grace, the grace which God gives to enlighten the mind and to purify the heart so that one may become more open to receive God on His terms. An effective and whole-person catechesis provides the necessary scaffolding by which people can grapple with the realities presented. The Baltimore Catechism makes use of a basic and effective technique to allow people to configure themselves to the Truth. Disciples memorize and thus internalize the data of the Catholic Faith: a question is asked; the correct answer is provided. In order to learn the Truth, one must be offered the Truth. Clarity of content and presentation is essential to the learning process, the apprehension of reality, and to the refinement of purpose. The answers (listed in the Baltimore Catechism) provoke people to invest their minds. They are a starting poi...

Chair of Saint Peter, Instituted Acolytes, Class of 2017 In the Manual for the Instituted Acolyte & The Exercise of the Subdiaconal Ministry according to Divine Worship: The Missal, operative in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, His Excellency Bishop Steven Lopes provides a letter of introduction that begins: In his 1972 Motu Proprio entitled Ministeria Quaedum, Pope Paul VI reformed the so-called "minor orders" in the Church, the steps which would precede ordination to the diaconate and priesthood, In doing so, he recalls that certain ministries were established by the Church for the service of the People of God and as an assistance to to offering due worship to Almighty God. In this reform, the Holy Father restored these ministries to the faithful, uncoupling them from the preparation of men for the sacred priesthood. Pope Paul suppressed the office of subdeacon and other minor orders , though the ministry and service once reserved to s...

At the joy filled moment when continuing Anglicans inaugurated the Anglican Church in North America, commonly known as ACNA, the wraith of women's ordination ambled among the attendees of the constitutional convention. When, during the convention, the question of women's ordination was put to Robert William Duncan, the first Archbishop (Primate) of ACNA, a strangely familiar answer was given. https://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2009/july/womens-ordination-crack-in-cathedral.html http://3riversepiscopal.blogspot.ca/2009_06_28_archive.html After the Anglican Church in North America’s (ACNA) momentous inaugural gathering, the verdict is out on whether the issue of women’s ordination will inhibit the budding alliance from moving forward. “For those who believe the ordination of women to be a grave error, and for those who believe it scripturally justifiable . . . we should be in mission together until God sorts us out,” said (Robert) Duncan in last week’s o...

From the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross comes the great news of a forthcoming diaconal ordination. Historic Torres Strait Ordination The Ordinary, Msgr Harry Entwistle is pleased to announce that the first ordination of a Torres Strait Island Ordinariate member will take place in June. http://www.ordinariate.org.au/news/first-torres-strait-ordination/ Kopel Gibuma, a former member of the Melanesian Brotherhood in their Australian mission and later a priest in the Church of Torres Strait,  will be ordained to the Transitional Diaconate at 10am on Saturday, June 9th in St Francis Xavier’s Catholic Church, (the c orner of) Atkinson & Mayers St, Cairns by Bishop James Foley, Bishop of Cairns. Please pray for him and the Ordinariate Communities in Cairns and Dauan Island.

An excerpt from an interview with Leslie Fain and Dr. Onalee McGraw. The Educational Guidance Institute (EGI), founded and directed by Dr. Onalee McGraw, uses classic film to teach universal truths to today’s youth. EGI’s study guides have been used in public, charter, Catholic, and religious school classrooms; after-school programs; special events in detention homes and alternative schools; pilot programs for college students and young adult groups; homeschools and homeschool co-ops; and parent-teen events in communities and churches. Leading with beauty—and classics from Hollywood’s Golden Age https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/05/11/leading-with-beauty-and-classics-from-hollywoods-golden-age/ Dr. Onalee McGraw: What makes studying classic films in group settings so effective is the timeless power of the story to move the heart through the imagination . The depth of the emotional response can vary based upon each person’s personality and life experienc...

Ancient Walsingham Prayer O alone of all women, Mother and Virgin, Mother most happy, Virgin most pure, now we sinful as we are, come to see thee who are all pure, we salute thee, we honour thee as how we may with our humble offerings; may thy Son grant us, that imitating thy most holy manners, we also, by the grace of the Holy Ghost may deserve spiritually to conceive the Lord Jesus in our inmost soul, and once conceived never to lose him. Amen. May 1 Our Lady, Queen of the May May 2 Our Lady of Oviedo, Spain May 3 Our Lady of Jasna Gora, Poland May 3 Our Lady of Warsaw, Poland May 4 Our Lady of the Helper, Normandy, France May 5 Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles May 6 Our Lady of Miracles in the Church of Our Lady of Peace, Rome May 7 Our Lady of Haut, Hainault, France May 8 Our Lady of Pompeii, Italy May 9 Our Lady of Loreto, Ancona, Italy May 10 Our Lady of Saussaie, Paris, France May 11 Our Lady of Aparecida, Patroness of Brazil May 11 Ap...

Beauty is to the heart as Truth is to the intellect; beauty to the heart is like food is to the body. Without a healthy diet, hope fades, the imagination is dulled,... and the body withers. Beauty is as necessary to living as air is to breathing. If there is any doubt about what that last thought means, recall the visual prison drawn by the Soviets in the previous century. How Beauty Led to My Radical Reversion by Constance T. Hull https://catholicexchange.com/beauty-led-radical-reversion Excerpts When I was 28-years-old, I found myself searching ardently for God, but I had made some terrible choices. I fled a destructive relationship—for both of us—and moved to Washington, DC for the third time in 8 years. In the beginning, I wasn’t quite ready for Mass. I walked out of a couple, mainly because I was racked by the guilt of my sins. The weight was taking its toll on me. I went to Bible studies at Protestant churches, but being raised reading St. Augustine, St. Th...

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God: that like as we do believe thy Only-Begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither* ascend, and with him continually dwell; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen. —Collect for The Ascension Of The Lord, Divine Worship: the Missal * toward that place. With the observance of the three minor rogation days now complete, we turn in amazement to the Feast of The Ascension of the Lord. For those who appreciate the significance and symbolism of numbers, not superstitious numerology, the retention of the Thursday position of the Ascension of Our Lord is a great boost to recovering an awareness, on behalf of the whole Church, of the rhythm or design that God has established to aid us in our immersion in the rhythm of the fourfold mystery of the passion, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ. Which, as Fr....