A Treasure To Be Shared

[ 6 minute read ] Our hands may be 'Marthas', but our hearts are 'Marys'. cf. Saint Luke 10:38-42 We at Saint John Henry Newman Catholic Church, Victoria, BC, a community of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, are blessed with devoted altar servers who, thanks to ongoing formation provided by our priests and by consulting vital approved liturgical resources, understand the need to pray their roles in the Liturgy. Divine Worship, the Mass of the Ordinariate, makes it easy to enter into prayerful service by virtue of its sheer beauty and goodness. Our clergy are excellent preachers and modellers of the Faith. They, like so many of us at Saint John Henry's, are converts from elsewhere: Anglicanism, continuing Anglicanism, the Traditional Anglican Church/ACCC, Methodism; Protestant evangelical and pentecostal communities; Lutheranism; atheism; and so on. Many lifelong Catholics attend; among them are reverts to the Faith. A few Byzantine Catholics regu...

Cantius/NLM [ 4 min read ] Some communicants make things interesting (...tricky, delicate, awkward, awesome...) at The Communion. Now don't get the wrong idea. Spoofing one's brothers' and sisters' behaviour is not meant to be proof of one's own moral or spiritual superiority. There's always a need to keep in mind the heart of another when lampooning (or celebrating) the externals, as curious or as laudable as those externals might be. The Moving Target: either the head or the tongue is moving a mile a minute. A good patener knows how to tame the fidget. See also #18: The Rubberneck. The Obstacle Course: fingertips touching the chin or mouth making it difficult for the patener to place the paten beneath the chin. The Curtain: face is completely covered with a veil. The NOFB (Not Open For Business): closed eyes, closed mouth; despite the need for a gentle prompt, typically a deeply reverent person. The Taker: wants to steal the Host from the priest. Note to commu...

[ 11 min. read ] UPDATE : 26may2024  https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2024/05/vatican-reverses-dismissal-of-nun-in-fort-worth-diocese The latest news has hit the airwaves. The nuns of the Most Holy Trinity Monastery in Arlington, Texas, issued a defiant three-page statement Wednesday (see below) in which they said that Bishop Olson does not have the authority to close off their monastery and that their chapel remains open to the public. - NCRegister https://www.ncregister.com/cna/texas-carmelites-defy-bishop-s-order-to-close-their-doors-to-the-faithful Oh dear. The monastery is open to the lay faithful; not so much to the Bishop. Bishop Olson may have forgotten that it is never a wise course to go up against a group of nuns, especially Texas nuns. Just sayin'. The nuns' statement, with interjections. http://www.carmelnuns.com/ STATEMENT BY THE REVEREND MOTHER PRIORESS AND CHAPTER MONASTERY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY DISCALCED CARMELITE NUNS  5801 MT. CARMEL DRIVE  ARL...

TNIE | Burning Cardinals in Effigy [ Read time: 6 minutes ] Not pretending to understand all the intricacies of a major dispute in an ancient Easter Rite Catholic Church, i.e., the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, what does seem clear to this blogger is that there is much to be learned from a controversy in terms of how change for the sake of change can create tremendous upheaval and how well-intentioned "solutions" are then crushed beneath an entrenched ignorance. The Syro-Malabar Church, a suri iuris Church in the Catholic communion, is experiencing liturgical upheaval. suri iuris : a juridically distinct community of the faithful with its own hierarchy; suri iurus churches retain their patrimonial autonomous nature within the Catholic Church By contrast, the Malankara communion seems to be enjoying liturgical peace. The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church celebrates Mass, the Holy Qurbana, ad orientem . The Syro-Malankara Church "employs the West Syriac Rite Divine Liturgy...

Köln | Hohe Domkirche St. Petrus Gargoyles and grotesques are carved figures and faces that are found on churches and other structures.  The term gargoyle is often used to refer to both gargoyles and grotesques. A gargoyle is a decorated waterspout that extends from a roof and directs rainfall away from a building's walls, protecting them from harm. The name comes from the Old French word  gargouille , meaning ‘throat’. A grotesque is a decorative carving with no drainage function. The great age for gargoyle and grotesques was really the later-medieval period, the later Gothic. - cf. Alex Woodcock, cathedral stonemason and author of Gargoyles and Grotesques (Bloomsbury). There is no shortage of humour among designers and carvers. Ely Cathedral Paisley Abbey | Nice to see contemporary beasts finding a home. Tony Blair? Washington Cathedral | The Reverend Vader presides. Canadian Parliament A legend arose around St. Romanus (7th Century AD), the former chancellor of the Merovin...

Christ and the Woman of Samaria by Giovanni Lanfranco Dear Diocesan Friend, God loves you. You matter to God. You having faith in God matters. Your eternal salvation matters. Faith matters. Keep the Faith! Perspective When the Mass is routinely celebrated without dignity and reverence, it is understandable that you could be tempted to stop attending Mass. Ask God for the grace to see past the problem or obstacle and focus on a solution. Are you involved in helping with the Mass - as a server? a sacristan? a lector? a member of the parish council? It only takes one saint to turn around a parish. Pray Wherever you find yourself, ask the Holy Ghost to illuminate your life and guide you. Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of Thy love. V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created; R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Let us pray. O God, who didst teach the hearts of Thy faithful people by sending them the light of Thy Holy Spiri...

Church Mag |  Eric Dye With roles renamed  (New Liturgical Moments: Mass Roles Renamed), perhaps it's time to retitle bits of the building? Some revisions will be familiar given decades of prior use. - - - As it was: parish office And is now: command, confusion and control centre was: confessional is: TARDIS (Tell All Reconciliation Discussion In Seclusion) was: altar is: buffet screenshot | CC Watershed (nice footwear to boot) was: nave is: worship space was: sanctuary is: worship space was: crying room is: bawling baby bunker was: side chapel is: auxiliary worship space was: statue or Stations of the Cross is: visual devotional aid(s) was: predella is: stage was: altar rail is: refer to Spirit of Vatican II wreckovation manual was: baptismal font is: Primary Sacrament of Initiation Immersion Cistern was: retable is: regrettable (regret+table) was: tabernacle is: Bread box "Tabernacle", Iesu Church in Donostia by Rafael Moneo Photo by Simoncio was: vestibule is: foyer w...

Adapted from a post published in 2018 - edited and expanded  JULY 2023 [ 15 minute read ] Many Catholics are confused. Why? How? Catholics are distracted by liturgical infighting and, consequently, are suffering a confusion of identity. The devil knows that the Mass is the source and summit of the Christian life (LG 11 totius vitae christianae fontem et culmen ). Attack the Mass - or undermine human beings' understanding of what the Mass is and should be - and you divide and conquer, sow confusion, and rob people of their dignity and identity. How might we ease the confusion, promote faith, hope and love, and thwart the devil's assaults? We must be allied to Jesus Christ. We meet Jesus in the Eucharistic Liturgy. Divine Worship, the venerable English Mass of the Personal Ordinariates, offers an authentic via media or middle way past the infighting and confusion, and moves man toward communion with God. Divine Worship affirms all that is good and true and beautiful that is also...