A Treasure To Be Shared

The dogma of the Holy Trinity challenges our narrow conceptions and elevates us. One God in Three Persons? That's a bit of a stumper. Unlike evil which is readily consumable and like all things cheap demands little from us, the Trinity requires a heftier investment of heart and mind. All true relationships require the best investment from us. God desires our consent and willingness to shed the obstacles (sin) to His life so that we may share in His life. The devil needs our consent to work his agenda in our life. With God, our consent opens out into His life of grace and freedom. Allied to the devil, our consent dissolves into addiction and slavery to sin and death. Game of Souls The devil is a scam artist. The marketing scheme employed by the devil is a clever one. For the devil, the game for souls is all about convincing humans that a meaningful life is all about the acquisition of power of one kind or another. Who doesn't want power?! Having power is intoxicating. Power ens...

the Prayers of Preparation (Prayers at the Foot) the English language at its best the Mass of the Five Wounds beautiful vestments, including black vestments silence and opportunities to rest in the Lord communion on the tongue while kneeling intentional participation the Last Gospel Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday as two distinct days the 'tides', e.g., Epiphanytide, Eastertide, Trinitytide, etc.

  reverence in the presence of the Lord unity in the truth excellent preaching of orthodox doctrine English plainchant and Anglican homophonic chant beautiful prayers ( click here for examples ) the Mass lived in post-Mass fellowship ad orientem worship copious amounts of incense, and bells the Holy Gospel proclaimed in the nave of the church stellar hymns

Just when we thought things couldn't get any more complicated concerning Mass during Covidtide, Pope Francis dropped a bombshell that has many in the tradosphere gasping for air. It's been twelve days since Pope Francis issued his awkwardly titled motu proprio Traditionis Custodes . Breathe, breathe... take a long slow breath. If greater unity is Pope Francis' desired outcome, that ain't likely gonna happen. If blog articles on the more radical sites are any indication, a lot of people are blazing mad and hardly disposed to complying with a letter that attempts to unify people through callous policies, even if issuing such an order is entirely with the prerogative and appropriate to the authority of the Roman Pontiff. SSPX here they come! One can almost see the wagons being hitched to the SSPX by Latin Mass enthusiasts. Pope Francis has been fairly sweet to the SSPX-ers. So,... if (when?) people migrate toward the Society, a group in imperfect communion with the Holy Se...

Roman ruins with a prophet, by Giovanni Pannini, 1751. Thus it is that no cruelty whatsoever passes by without impact. Thus it is that we always pay dearly for chasing after what is cheap. - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956 “(G)rievance culture” — the kind of culture we have today — is deadly. There’s always another oppressor to expose and accuse. Grievance feels good in an ugly sort of way. And it’s addictive. It presumes the wickedness of anyone who disagrees. It kills reasoned discourse. After all, who wants to waste time listening to stupid or evil people — especially if, by definition, they’re stupid or evil because their views conflict with our own? This explains why our nation’s political life is now so toxic. It’s senseless for our leaders to blather on about the “common good” when, by their words and actions, they make a genuine common good impossible. - Francis X. Maier Preservation of one's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for ot...

Coronation of Mary by Diego Velázquez | Master of Portillo, Mass of Saint Gregory the Great Benedict XVI USA Today | Spectator World | Church News Ireland I. He who would valiant be ’Gainst all disaster, Let him in constancy Follow the Master. There’s no discouragement Shall make him once relent His first avowed intent To be a pilgrim. - J. Bunyan, 1628–1688 Monks Gate , EH 402 Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians 4:1-6 Trinity VIII Brethren: I, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. King James Version I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk w...

The Ordinariate community of Saint John Henry Newman, Victoria, recently acquired two processional torches that will be put into service this Sunday with a little help from our Latin community friends who will be added pro tempore to our server corps. Ritual Notes 9 The Torchbearers Two, four, six or eight Torch-bearers should be provided, according to the dignity of the solemnity, to bear torches at the Elevation. If there be places for them within the Sanctuary, they should enter, walking two and two, after the Acolytes at the commencement of the Service. They will stand in their appointed place, except when the Acolytes kneel or sit, when they should do likewise. At the Comfortable Words they leave the Sanctuary with the Thurifer and return with him at the Preface, carrying their torches lighted. They hold their torches in the middle, those on the right in their right hand and the others in their left. After making the usual reverence in pairs, they separate and kneel on the floor ...

Exposing Evil Normalize to make normal A common occurrence or tactic among the misguided is to attempt to make evil appear to be virtuous. The fallen angels are all liars. A demon can appear as a being of light, but a demon's appearance is merely a disguise hiding darkness and ruin. If we could see them for what they are, we would be repulsed by their hideousness, the hideousness of their rejection of God and His will for man. So, it is no coincidence that those humans who choose to ally (alloy?) themselves with evil do so by guilding sinful behaviour with the gold of normalcy or acceptability. That is, because a human does 'it' - whatever 'it' might be - or is capable of doing 'it', 'it' must be ok. Reinforcers Pseudoscience and scientism: to create alarm and dependence Neopuritanism: homogeneity (pseudo-justice) through micromanagement Coercion: by gaslighting, shaming or guilt-tripping to depersonalize and effect submission Outcome morally repugna...

Fr. Gerald E. Murray The pope’s decision (to clamp down on EF Masses) is based, in short, upon his evaluation of the motives and actions of “many” people who choose to attend (or celebrate) the EF Mass. They are somehow “exploiting” and “instrumentalizing” that Mass to reinforce divergences in the Church, encouraging disagreements that risk dividing the Church. They reject the liturgical reform, Vatican II, the Church and her institutions. Even granting that this is an accurate description – which I do not think is true – is the proper response to the abuse of something good in and of itself the suppression of that good? Isn’t the proper response to address those supposed attitudes by engaging in a serene and respectful dialogue that seeks mutual understanding and common commitment to striving for what is good for the Church? Now, because some people who like the EF Mass do not share an enthusiasm for the new liturgical forms and raise questions about the proper interpretation of Vatic...

In journalism the modern man wants controversy, not truth. - Venerable Fulton Sheen, Thinking Life Through (1955) To throw away an honest friend is, as it were, to throw your life away. - Sophocles, Oedipus Rex Our culture has filled our heads but emptied our hearts, stuffed our wallets but starved our wonder. It has fed our thirst for facts but not for meaning or mystery. It produces "nice" people, not heroes. - Dr. Peter Kreeft Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system. - Dorothy Day A Christian should always remember that the value of his good works is not based on their number and excellence, but on the love of God which prompts him to do these things. - Saint John of the Cross Educate your children to self-control, to the habit of holding passion and prejudice and evil tendencies subject to an upright and reasoning will, and you have done much to abolish misery from their future and crimes from society. - Benjamin Franklin Be who God meant you ...

Bergoglio Boniface VIII who succeeded Benedict XVI Celestine V who abdicated GREGORY DIPIPPO | NLM Pray for Pope Francis Commentary will be issued later today, after prayer, a good long walk, and a lot of coffee. We must redouble our prayers for Pope Francis, whose whole papacy, every smile, every hug of a disabled person, every exhortation to mercy, will be stained for the rest of history, along with the throne of St Peter itself, by this unprecedented and absolutely gratuitous act of pastoral cruelty, the attempted revocation of Summorum Pontificum. https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/07/pray-for-pope-francis.html#.YPJ5QuhKiUk RORATE COELI We were also asked if this is "huge". Yes, it is huge. It is the most stinging rebuke by a Pope against his predecessor in living memory -- there has never been anything like it. Remember that the document itself is just 14 years old, and that Benedict XVI is still alive. Legally, it's a complete mess. Benedict had made clear...

Don't stop drinking the drink. This blogger couldn't help but think that the recent Apostolic Letter issued by the Supreme Pontiff Pope Francis might have included a preface in the vernacular that might just speak his intentions in a more succinct and appropriately hip manner. To that end, I give you Mcvie's pop rock song. DON'T STOP Pope Francis Christine Mcvie FLEETWOOD MAC 1977 If you wake up and don't want to smile If it takes just a little while Open your eyes and look at the day You'll see things in a different way  Don't stop thinking about tomorrow Don't stop, it'll soon be here It'll be better than before Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone Why not think about times to come ? And not about the things that you've done If your life was bad to you Just think what tomorrow will do Don't stop thinking about tomorrow... All I want is to see you smile If it takes just a little while I know you don't believe that it's tru...