EPICTETUS
If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.
Ordinariate Ordinations to the Sacred Priesthood
Updated: Congratulations to Fathers Armando G. Alejandro, Jr., B. Nathan Davis, and Matthew M. Hummel.
Praise the Lord. I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who have pleasure in them.
The Order of Service
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St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Bridgeport, PA In 2023, Monsignor Keith Newton, then head of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, coined the term “realized ecumenism” to describe how the Ordinariates created by the Apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus offer a welcoming path for those seeking the fullness of the Faith. https://ewtn.co.uk/article-the-head-of-the-ordinariate-for-former-anglicans-in-england-and-wales-assesses-its-past-present-and-future/ The Personal Ordinariates represent one of the most quietly remarkable ecumenical achievements of the last century: a form of unity that does not require amnesia. They embody a model of reconciliation in which distinct traditions are not dissolved but transfigured — brought into full communion without losing the theological, liturgical, and pastoral instincts that shaped them. The Personal Ordinariates are a quiet work of the Holy Spirit, gathering what was once separated and transforming it into communion. Th...
In the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, the September Ember Days are the traditional Autumn Ember Days, observed on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14). They remain part of the Ordinariate's liturgical patrimony and are specifically encouraged for prayer, fasting, repentance, thanksgiving for the harvest, and prayers for vocations. For 2026, those days (Embertide) fall on: Wednesday, September 16 Friday, September 18 Saturday, September 19 The Ordinariate explains that the September Ember Days are associated with the grape harvest, directing our gratitude toward the wine that becomes the Precious Blood in the Holy Eucharist. They are also traditional times to pray for priests, deacons, and future vocations. Discipline Regarding discipline, the Ordinariate notes that Ember Friday is a day of obligatory abstinence from meat. The faithful are also encouraged to undertake additional fasting, prayer...
The Ordinariate’s Liturgy Shapes the Soul Through Beauty, Order, and Sacramental Realism Divine Worship, the liturgical expression entrusted to the Ordinariates, is far more than a beautiful way of praying. It is a formative environment — a spiritual architecture that shapes the worshipper’s imagination, posture, and self‑understanding. In a culture marked by distraction, fragility, and self‑invention, Divine Worship quietly trains the believer to stand firm, to speak truthfully, and to live faithfully. Its beauty is not ornamental; its order is not rigid; its language is not nostalgic. All of it works together to cultivate resilience and responsibility as lived habits of Christian maturity. The Gravity That Strengthens the Soul One of the most striking features of Divine Worship is its gravity. The Liturgy carries a seriousness that is neither severe nor distant, but deeply dignified. The worshipper is confronted with the reality that he stands before the living God. The Collects, the...
Attendees of the Ordinariate Mass habitually pray the Nicene Creed during the Sunday Mass. Since becoming a regular at the Ordinariate Mass, I am reminded every week how blessed we in the Ordinariate are by having a beautiful translation of the Creed to pray. While still a diocesan Catholic, I remember with joy and satisfaction the introduction of the revised (some might say a restored) English translation of the Creed for the Ordinary Form of the Mass. When I left diocesan precincts for the Ordinariate, I found the Credo as prayed in Divine Worship (DW), the Mass of the Ordinariate, to be awkward at first, though strangely attractive. The DW version motivated me to slow down and revisit each phrase. Having been exposed to and shaped by the Credo of Divine Worship for a few years now, I cannot imagine returning to even the improved English text of the Ordinary Form Liturgy. The Nicene Creed professed in the Ordinariate, in that older liturgical dialect, is lyrical, confide...
SJHN Divine Worship I. The Wound The altar groans beneath a fractured rite, When hands forget the holiness they hold; For once the sacred slips from earnest sight, Its fire grows thin, its embers faint and cold. The Church stands bruised when reverence is lost, And Christ is met with casual, hurried breath; Such wounds, though quiet, carry weight and cost, For they unteach the way that leads from death. II. Identity Unmade The Church forgets the grammar of her grace When gestures stray from what the Fathers knew; Her ancient voice grows strange within this place, And borrowed forms obscure what once rang true. For liturgy is language of the Bride, The shape of love made visible and clear; When this is blurred, her heart is pushed aside, And mission falters where it should draw near. III. The Mission Dimmed A people formed by rites malformed will fade, Uncertain of the gift they bear within; For worship teaches how the world is made, And how the Cross unmakes the power of sin. If rites ...
The voice of God in Holy Scripture is never a mere sound; it is the living self‑communication of the Lord who speaks to His people in order to create, judge, redeem, and sanctify. Across the canon, God’s voice is portrayed as both transcendent and intimate—majestic in power yet directed personally to the human heart. The Voice that Creates and Commands From the opening lines of Genesis, God’s voice is the medium of creation: “And God said…” (Gen 1). Divine speech is performative; it brings reality into being. Scripture thus presents the world not as a random emergence but as the ordered result of God’s articulate will. The same creative voice later gives the Law at Sinai (Exod 19–20), revealing that the One who speaks worlds into existence also speaks covenantal commands that shape human life. The Voice that Reveals and Interprets The prophets repeatedly describe their vocation as hearing and transmitting the word of the LORD (Jer 1:4–10; Isa 6). God’s voice is revelatory: it discloses...
POPE LEO XIV Magnifica Humanitas
Even in the darkest nights, the Lord raises up men and women who refuse to give up, who persevere in doing good, who protect the vulnerable and open pathways to reconciliation. The memory of the saints, righteous people and the oft-forgotten peacemakers, show us that grace does not magically eliminate conflict, but instead it inspires active resistance to evil and an astonishing creativity in doing good” (paragraph 211).
LEVITICUS 10:10, EZEKIEL 22:26
Priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
I doubt not then but innocence shall make false accusation blush, and tyranny tremble at patience.
WORDS TO THE WHYS
You cannot subsidize irresponsibility and expect people to become more responsible. Thomas Sowell
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