A Treasure To Be Shared

A read of various religious organizations' websites reveals a point of convergence relating to attempts to find a way forward even as the same communities are in steep decline. Brief Digression The websites looked at range from Anglican to United Church to Evangelical to liberal Catholic to Tradition-minded Catholic parishes. By "Tradition-minded" is here meant a parish robustly configured to the living Magisterium established by Jesus Christ and the teaching handed on by the Apostles. Convergence What is that point of convergence so frequently being talked about? Liminality. There is agreement among foundering communities, in particular, that they are in the midst of transition and (desperately) need coping mechanisms to survive. Most are in denial about the likelihood that their communities are, according to the stats , dying. The few exceptions, those making an honest effort to conform to the will of God by honouring the Apostolic Tradition, are thriving . That growth ...

Ripon Cathedral An inscription on the early sixteenth-century Rood-screen rail at Compsal near Doncaster: Let fal down thyn ne & lift up thy hart Behold thy maker on yon Remembir his woundis that for the did smart Gotyn without syn and on a virgin bor. Al his hed percid with a crowne of thorn Alas man thy hart ought to brast in two Bewar of the dwyl whan he blawis his horn And pray thy gode aungel convey thee fro. H/T Blog on the Barrow Downs Pugin A 2018 article at the Catholic Herald: The Beauty of Rood Screens. https://catholicherald.co.uk/the-beauty-of-rood-screens/ Monastery of the Holy Cross Church of the Holy Cross, Felsted, Essex Canterbury Cathedral Another article: http://blogonthebarrowdowns.blogspot.com/2019/09/vii-tolkien-and-great-rood-screen.html Lichfield Cathedral Our Lady of Walsingham Cathedral, Houston

https://acsociety.org/news/st-peters-rambler-april-2022-edition April 16, 2022 by Anglicanorum Coetibus Society Editor's Note - Peter Jesserer Smith  (...) When you read this issue, you can see new life emerging like the humble crocuses rising from the ground in Spring. The Holy Spirit is working in the world, and we see the Holy Spirit working through the Catholic Church’s Ordinariates for the Anglican tradition. What a joy it is to see the Holy Spirit activating men and women who take their discipleship of Jesus seriously and follow his call to evangelize and heal wounds of division, building up Christ’s Church through common prayer, fellowship, and hospitality. If the Church ever feels for you like it’s in the tomb, just look at how the Holy Spirit enlivens these humble beginnings, and you'll see a glimpse of the Church’s resurrection. This issue: the Guild of Saint Stephen https://vicordinariateserv.wixsite.com/altarservers (T)he next issue of the St. Peter's Rambler wi...

H/T Francis Phillips at Mercatornet Caryll Houselander The Passion of Christ was an experience which included in itself every experience except sin, of every member of the human race. If one may say this with reverence, the fourteen incidents of the Stations of the Cross show not only the suffering but the Psychology of Christ. Above all, they show, in detail, his way of transforming suffering by love. He shows us, step by step, how that plan of love can be carried out by men, women, and children today, both alone in the loneliness of their individual lives and together in communion with one another. - - - We are united to Him, we are one, and it is when His Passion becomes real to us, through experience and love, that we grow aware of His presence in us. - - - A mystical experience. I saw too the reverence that everyone must have for a sinner; instead of condoning his sin, which is in reality his utmost sorrow, one must comfort Christ who is suffering in him. And this reverence mu...

The Apolausticks An article by Michael Gilleland ,  October 17, 2008 Peter Gilliver et al., The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 39, n. 7, on The Coalbiters , a club founded by Tolkien ( in 1912 ) to read Norse sagas: The club's name derives from the Icelandic Kolbítar , a name given to those who stay so close to the fire in winter that they are virtually 'biting the coal'. This was not the first club with a linguistically intriguing name which Tolkien had founded: during his undergraduate days at Exeter College he had founded the 'Apolausticks'—from the word apolaustic 'devoted to seeking enjoyment', which, since it is extremely rare, he may well have discovered in the OED. Tolkien started out as a student of the classics, and he also may well have discovered the word in the beginning of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (1.5.1-2, tr. H. Rackham): On the one hand the generality of men an...

Divine Worship: The Offertory (Form I) Then he takes the chalice, and offers it, slightly elevating it and saying in a low voice: We offer unto thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, beseeching thy mercy, that it may ascend in the sight of thy divine majesty as a sweet smelling savour for our salvation, and for that of the whole world. Amen. Commentary The priest offers God, on our behalf, the wine that God will be changed into the very Blood of Christ. Aware of the truly awesome reality at his hands, the priest calls upon God to extend His mercy so that the offering will be accepted by God and transformed by Him, becoming the "sweet smelling savour for our salvation". Though, not only for us, but for the salvation of the whole world. Our hope is in the Lord. Later in the Mass we will hear: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT, FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENES...

"Der Katechismus ist nicht in Stein gemeißelt. Man darf auch in Zweifel ziehen, was da drinsteht." "The catechism is not set in stone. One can also question what is in it." Reinhard Cardinal Marx  Stern Using our God given power of reason to ask questions, to discover God's will by encountering His Truth in His revealed word and to respond to His Presence in His Sacraments, is required of any serious disciple of Jesus Christ. There is no option to the contrary, however. For the faithful disciple, in order to be considered faithful, must habitually think with the Church (sentire cum ecclesia). Luther 2.0 So then, what was Cardinal Marx thinking by issuing such a silly statement that draws others into rebellion? If one intends to serve the mission of Christ, it is difficult to impossible to imagine how questioning revealed teaching of Christ captured in the Catechism, for starters, and preached continuously by God's saints, serves the mission of Christ. While ...