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Showing posts from May, 2023

Liturgical Word Fun JUNE 2023

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Comfy Words: "Put your feet up and stay awhile." Hummily: mumbled sermon Surplus: extra long cotta Confession: most needed and least used sacrament Wholly Odors: thurifer common scents Altar Relics: older members of a server corps Maniple: hanky for real men Spong: the sound a heretic makes when struck by a virge Transphobia: Protestant fear of the Real Presence Sediliac: seated celebrant Alms length: distance between the wallet and the collection plate Mass: holy matter that grows on you or in you Kneeler: balance beam for antsy children; see injury site Crewsuffer: shared experience due to the irksome behaviour of another altar server Baptismal Font: Times New Roman Catholic

Let's Face It! The Liturgy Wars Syro-Malabar Style

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Ad Orientem Worship https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/man-vandalizes-altar-at-church-engulfed [ READ TIME - 6 minutes] An article at The Pillar captures the - at times - heated debate in our sister church, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. After years of debate over variations in the way that the Syro-Malabar Eucharistic liturgy was celebrated, the majority of bishops endorsed a formula known as the “uniform mode,” in which the priest faces the people during the Liturgy of the Word, turns toward the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and then faces the people again after Communion. But in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archeparchy, the vast majority of priests and lay people rejected the uniform mode, demanding that their preference for the Holy Qurbana facing the people be recognized as a legitimate liturgical variant. They noted that the variant has been used in the archdiocese for more than 50 years and argued that it embodied Vatican II’s liturgical priorities more faithfully than the

Figs from Thistles? What does our religious art say?

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Saint Clare | 2022 The Catholic Church has always seen art as an integral part of its liturgical worship and recognized the power of Beauty to evangelize. The visual arts flow from the wellspring of the Sacred Liturgy, and both the Church and her artists flourish when this is understood and embraced. - The Catholic Art Guild/LAJ You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? - St Matthew 7:16   (I)n your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence(.) - 1 Peter 3:15 Let us ask ourselves: Does our service give reason for the hope that is in us? Does the beauty we manifest give reason for the hope that is in us? Does our art (paintings, windows, music, architecture) given reason for the hope that possesses us in Christ? Liturgical blandness, architectural flaccidity (yes, that is a word...) and sterile homiletics w

A Reflection on the Prayers of Preparation

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We are blessed in the Ordinariate to retain in Divine Worship the Prayers of Preparation , also known as the Prayers at the Foot . The 43rd Psalm (42nd in the Latin Vulgate) begins the Preparation . From this text one may gain great consolation and the strength to persevere during times of acute and chronic adversity.  The Psalm invites the believer to trust the Lord, to enlist the aid of God in his encounters with people who reject the will of God. God embraces the struggles of the faithful person who, in humble recognition of his dependence upon God for everything, and his willingness to cooperate with God to enact God's will in this life, confidently submits himself and accepts God's terms. PRAYERS OF PREPARATION If the following is prayed at the foot of the altar, the People may join in saying the responses and praying the Confiteor, kneeling. If so, this form may replace the usual Penitential Rite. Priest:  X  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghos

Thank you Ignatius for your service!

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The community of Saint John Henry Newman, Victoria, BC, bids farewell to Ignatius, centre, who is returning to Korea. We give thanks to God for Ignatius' dedicated and reverent service.

Finding Peace In The Rite of Peace

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The Rite of Peace of the Novus Ordo Missae has been the occasion for increased controversy for the better part of half a century. Many articles have been written that lament  the manner in which it is celebrated or that call for the Rite, or a least any hint of an exchange, to be suppressed altogether. During the Rite , one commonly observes people shaking hands or exchanging hugs or kisses, extending fist-bumps or patting each other on the back, or people bowing toward one another with a measure of restraint. For all intentions, the Rite still remains an awkward moment at a time when the assembly  should be aware of and disposed in body and mind to the obvious - Jesus' Body and Blood is on the altar. Actions can speak louder than words. Combined, words and actions provide a poetry that disposes the believer to the will and influence of Christ. Each person, properly disposed to the action the Holy Spirit, to the grace of God, becomes a conduit of Christ's peace, a leaven of pea

A Prayer for Assistance in the Development of a Parish Church

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+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. O MARY, OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM, who didst grant Richeldis a vision of thy house in Nazareth, and who didst entrust her with the mission to build thy shrine, we beseech thee to intercede before the throne of God for assistance to help us build a house of prayer wherein the true, the good and the beautiful celebration of the sacraments ordained for our salvation may be conducted unto the glory of God. We humbly beseech thee, O Mary Most Holy, to pray that God grant to us the wisdom to do His will at all times, and the grace to diligently work to build a house of prayer, a home for all who thirst for truth and who hunger for righteousness and healing; a home for vocations to the priesthood, religious and married life; a home for families who love God and neighbour. May God grant us the strength to persevere in our quest to honour Him by constructing a church worthy of His Name. Pray, O Blessed Lady, that God will in
The opinions expressed herein are largely those of the blog author. Every effort is made to conform to Church teaching. Comments are welcome.