A Treasure To Be Shared

The Wilton Dyptych c. 1395–1399 Andrew Cusack at the Catholic Herald. https://catholicherald.co.uk/todays-re-dedication-was-a-very-english-moment-with-a-universal-meaning/ (T)oday at noon(, Richard II's) dedication (of England as Mary's Dowry) was renewed, as Catholics knelt to make an Act of Entrustment of England to Mary. The rededication was not performed by a monarch in a great abbey; it did not even take place, as had been planned, in our cathedrals. Instead, it was carried out by bishops, priests, and laity throughout the realm, isolated by pandemic but united by faith and common purpose. Our religion is not local, but universal — the very meaning of the world “Catholic”. But we have always found the universal in the particular. The English are a varied bunch — Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Vikings — most of whom have been here since time immemorial. But in addition to those there are many who, like myself, have come from abroad but made this land our home...

Father Phillips has written a brief but important reminder at his blog. Gossip destroys souls, and if you value your soul, don't gossip. By promoting lies, you put yourself a little (or even a lot!) closer to hell. Father's essay merits a full quote. https://atonementparish.blogspot.com/2020/03/false-witness.html It’s upsetting to most people if they find out that others have been talking about them in a bad or false way. When lies are spread around about us, it’s one of the most difficult and devastating things that can happen. It has been rightly said that “a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its boots on.” At Mass on Monday in the fifth week of Lent we hear the story of Susanna, from the Book of Daniel. Susanna was a godly woman who loved God. She was unjustly accused of adultery by two elder judges who had tried to force themselves on her. Since adultery was a serious offense punishable by stoning to death, the la...

Overture What is the Patrimony? A chapter in the autobiography of the Holy Ghost? The Holy Ghost working in and through the English Christian people, before and after the Tudor split, drawing people (back) to unity in the Church that Christ established, that is, the Catholic Church? The Holy Ghost revitalizing the Church by bringing back into the Catholic fold "many elements of sanctification and of truth (...) found outside her visible confines"? The grammar of the Holy Ghost organizing those "elements of sanctification and truth" belonging in and to the Catholic Church? In this unofficial attempt to add something useful to the conversation about Ordinariate Catholic identity, the temptation will be to say too much or too little. At the very least, let us hope that this attempt to witness to a way of being Catholic doesn't deter readers from considering who and what Ordinariate Catholics are, and what they have to say to the rest of the ...

The advantage of being a loner, if you will, is that one's apartment can be a cloister wherein prayer and meditation can be conducted, and habit forming. If one can avoid the many distractions online, i.e., useless banter about this or that, there are many very edifying websites one can visit and engage in a measure of spiritual reading and formation. The preceding sentence is in no way intended to trumpet the merit of this blog. Though, the following tidbit might help one avoid unnecessary and unsettling distractions. Patti Armstrong, writing about Catholic apologist and former new-agey type Sarah Brinkman, captures information that may be useful during these turbulent times made more turbulent by a tiny beast. https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/apologist-warns-catholics-about-dangers-of-mindfulness It would be very easy, if one is not a practicing Catholic, an ardently orthodox Catholic, to veer off-course and seek comfort in some non-Christian east...

Peter Jesserer Smith has this at the NCRegister: Ordinariate Becomes 14th U.S. ‘Restored Order’ Diocese Bishop Steven Lopes said the 10-year old diocese has made Confirmation and First Communion at the same celebration for youth the norm going forward. With the recent pastoral letter “Come, Holy Ghost,” Bishop Steven Lopes revealed the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter would now become the 14th Latin-Rite diocese to make the reception of Holy Eucharist normally follow Confirmation, something commonly called “restored order” of the sacraments, with a focus on involving the child’s family in sacramental preparation. “The principle upon which the Ordinariate’s practice must be founded, therefore, is the essential bond between the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion,” Bishop Lopes said in his pastoral letter on the Holy Spirit. “Ideally, therefore, Confirmation and First Holy Communion are conferred in the same celebration.” Click on the link to rea...

The Priest, Deacon, and Subdeacon being vested, the blessing of the Incense to be used in the procession takes place, immediately before leaving the sacristy. The celebrant receives the spoon from the Deacon, who says, “Be pleased, reverend father, to give a blessing;” he then takes incense from the navicula or incense-boat (held by the Deacon, who receives it from the Thurifer,) and puts it on the burning charcoal in three several portions, each time sprinkling it in the form of a cross. Then in accordance with the Deacon’s prayer, he blesses the incense with his right hand, saying, “Be thou blessed by Him in whose honour thou art to be burned.” The thurible is held by the Thurifer whilst the incense is put in. "When a thurible does not contain incense which has been blessed, he will hold it in his left hand and the boat in his right; but when it does contain incense which has been blessed, vice versa. During the more ceremonial parts of the function, such a...

Screenshot: Rededication Site = = = From the Rededication site: THE REDEDICATION IN 2020 On Sunday 29th March at 12noon, The Rededication will take place throughout the country.  As King Richard II once gave England as a gift to Our Lady, so we are invited to give ourselves, as the people of this country, to Mary.  We respond to this invitation on the day of Rededication in two ways; by making a personal promise and a communal entrustment. Our personal promise brings us closer to Mary, the first disciple of Christ. In this we unite in her joy by following her openness to God’s call. Our communal entrustment unites us together as the people of our country in prayer, by renewing the vows of dedication made to Mary by our ancestors. = = = Universty of Dayton T.E. Bridgett, CSSR,  Our Lady's Dowry: How England Gained That Title (London, 1890). The contemplation of the great mystery of the Incarnation has drawn all Christian nations to ...

Holy Communion at St. John Henry's (Victoria, BC): Priest accompanied by two Instituted Acolytes Act of Spiritual Communion My Jesus, I believe that Thou art present in the Blessed Sacrament. I love Thee above all things and I desire Thee in my soul. Since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. As though thou wert already there, I embrace Thee and unite myself wholly to Thee; permit not that I should ever be separated from Thee. - Saint Alphonsus Liguori And, should circumstances come to it, perhaps the following prayer might be added: A Prayer in Time of Great Sickness and Mortality O Most mighty and merciful God, in this time of grievous sickness, we flee unto thee for succour. Deliver us, we beseech thee, from our peril; give strength and skill to all those who minister to the sick; prosper the means made use of for their cure; and grant that, perceiving how frail and uncertain our life is, we may apply our...

As western societies continue to slide into panic about one thing or another - panic, which is one of the many consequences of embracing "progressive" ideology that, using language and methods that mimic Christian vocabulary and practices, directs hearts and minds toward empty headed thinking and behaviour - we can expect sooner than later that many, awakening to the danger to their health and well being, will seek out alternatives that anchor a person in the transcendentals. The transcendentals - truth, goodness and beauty - are fresh water to souls left parched by dwelling in the arid wasteland of western progressivism, which is socialism on steroids. Said seekers will find communities that embody the transcendentals. Such communities are those among the Ordinariates - currently located in North America, Oceania and the United Kingdom - or will be associated with a society such as the FSSP, or will be a diocesan community that hosts the Extraordinary Form Mass. Eas...

Watts & Co. London After watching a couple of episodes of one of those reality TV shows, in those idle moments into which one momentarily descends after a long and taxing day, a show about gold hunters in Western Australia, this blogger found himself inspired by the delight of those who, though motivated by materialistic concerns and fixated on finding gold, thrill at the discovery of their sought after prize. One can and should admire people who work very, very hard to succeed at their chosen profession. Obviously, however, an appreciation of effort and achievement does not mean one should redefine avarice as a virtue. Pursuing A Truer Gold One can find a host of beautiful liturgical gems and the people who produce them if one grabs some text and, entering said text into a search engine, sifts through the dirt of the web, the vast pile of sand and grit in which treasures can be buried and lost. Those who seek a truer gold, a gold that points beyond itself to t...

Youtube/Turley & Ashenden/Screenshot An NCRegister/Kevin Turley story. https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/from-canterbury-to-rome-why-the-queens-former-chaplain-became-catholic As we walk around the ancient streets of Walsingham, the most obvious question is, of course: Why did he decide to become a Catholic? “Slowly, but surely,” Ashenden explained, “over the last 10 years it became clearer, both in my mind and in my prayers, that what the Catholic Church taught, particularly about the Mass, was not only true, but had always been true, from the Apostolic Fathers onwards.” [...] “So as my own tradition disappeared from under my feet,” he continued, “a number of voices in the Catholic Church, among them my own local Catholic bishop [Bishop Davies], reminded me that a struggle for the purity and faithfulness of the Church would never be wasted if it were brought to the service of Catholicism. Bishop Mark asked me to act on my convictions and be reconciled w...

Kent Online: Mark Hourahane Image The Catholic Herald (UK) has the following story. https://catholicherald.co.uk/bones-found-in-church-wall-are-st-eanswythe-scientists-say/ Bones discovered in the late 19th century are likely those of a seventh-century English saint, scientists have announced. Carbon dating confirmed that human remains discovered hidden in a church wall in 1885 are from the seventh century, and are almost certainly the bones of St Eanswythe, one of the first English saints. [...] St Eanswythe was the granddaughter of King Ethelbert, the first Christian king in England, and the daughter of King Eadbald of Kent. She was born in approximately 614 AD. Around the year 630, she founded a Benedictine Priory in the town of Folkestone, in southeastern Kent. She is believed to have been the abbess of this community and died of unknown causes between the ages of 17 and 22. Popular devotion to her grew up quickly in the surrounding area and her life ...

Woodcut from Der Ritter von Thurn, German, 1498 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. ―   Exodus 20:16 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. ― James 1:26 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. ― Ephesians 4:29 Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people. ― Socrates Economic Times It is far too easy to contribute to conspiracies that rip into the souls of others, that tear at people's reputations by myth-making, by gossiping and rumor-mongering. This Lent, perhaps one might quit the chorus of rumormongers and stand among the humble, the poor in spirit. To that end, a few samples of right counsel have been included below to shake loose rotten fruit hanging from tired limbs. Thanks to Ms...