A Treasure To Be Shared

Thuriferobot Mark II Moderate strength is shown in violence, supreme strength is shown in levity. Gilbert K. Chesterton Ben Hogan Golf-themed Altar Frontal: style and... comfort? AI Confessional: spontaneous and comprehensive composition of penances. Kevlar® Cotta (could come in handy in some countries). Memory Foam Padded Kneelers. La-Z-Boy® Celebrant's Reclinable Sedile. Plasma Processional Torches: good for illuminating the Gospel and for welding. There-And-Back-Again Floor Strip Lighting: to guide communicants to receive communion and then guide them back to their pews (see also: Communion Conveyor Belt). Autonomous Robotic Thurifer (A.R.T.): able to produce copious amounts of smoke and operates in extreme conditions (e.g., Los Angeles Religious Education Congress). Communion Conveyor Belt: for slow moving communicants to board. Heelys Acolyte Skate Shoes: for fleet-footed altar servers. Temperature Controlled Chasuble: for comfort all the livelong day. Spill-proof Chalice: for...

  The Church established by Jesus Christ is a church with synods, but not a synodal church as some might imagine or attempt to impose. The Church is not nor has she ever been a democracy nor a mere social club. Can. 342 The synod of bishops is a group of bishops who have been chosen from different regions of the world and meet together at fixed times to foster closer unity between the Roman Pontiff and bishops, to assist the Roman Pontiff with their counsel in the preservation and growth of faith and morals and in the observance and strengthening of ecclesiastical discipline, and to consider questions pertaining to the activity of the Church in the world. A synod is subject to the supreme authority of the Roman Pontiff (Can. 344).  To confine the Church to man's socio-political constructs is to attempt to undermine the authority of Jesus Christ, an authority which He, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, extends to the bishops of His Church. We hope that the bishops are u...

The simplest acts of kindness, the uncomplicated gratitude we can offer to God for blessings great and small, the well timed service we can offer for the good of others, the counsel that calls people to their dignity as children of God, to a change of heart and to abandon sin and to draw close to Jesus, these and more are the graced loving works of the People of God for the salvation of souls. Saying grace at home and in public. Two forms: Bless, O Lord this food to our use, and us to thy loving service. Give us grateful hearts, and make us ever mindful of the needs of others. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. V. The eyes of all wait upon thee, O Lord: R. And thou givest them their meat in due season. V. Thou openest wide thine hand: R. and fillest all things living with plenteousness. Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive of thy bounty: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Making the Sign of the Cross as an emergency vehicle approaches. Lord, + pleas...

Laughing Stock These days the view of the Church and the world from the parish doorstep is rather bleak. Many nations are rapidly falling apart because of ridiculous policies instigated by ideologues bent on suppressing anything that exposes their attempts to control not only the political narrative but also diminish man's inalienable freedoms proper to man's dignity. The Surly Left Those who dance to the left characterize anything near the centre as right wing, such is their fear and loathing of common sense and the centre. Even liberal pundits such as Bill Maher have become concerned about his leftist cousins' drift into extremism and the threat to society. https://globalnews.ca/news/10423689/bill-maher-canada-us-real-time/ Comedians have been quick to expose left wing threats to freedom of speech. Many no longer book shows on college campuses because of woke extremists' attacks. When a person holds what the left holds today, everything to the right appears extreme. A...

Friday 19 April St Alphege, Bishop & Martyr [Abstinence] Saint John Henry's, Victoria, BC Mattins 9 am | Terce 9.30 am Confessions 9.30-9.45 am | Low Mass 10 am Ælfheah (c.953 - 19 April 1012), or Alphege, was Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester and eventually Archbishop of Canterbury. He became an anchorite before being chosen abbot of Bath Abbey. His reputation for piety and sanctity earned him an elevation to the episcopate and, finally, archbishop. Ælfheah promoted the intercession of Saint Dunstan while also encouraging education. He was kidnapped by Viking raiders in 1011 during the siege of Canterbury and executed the following year after refusing to be ransomed. Ælfheah was canonised as a (martyr) saint in 1078. In 1170, Thomas Becket, later Archbishop of Canterbury, prayed to Ælfheah before being murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. Old English: Ælfhēah, "elf-tall" Source: Rumble, "From Winchester to Canterbury" Leaders of the Anglo-Saxon Church .

The Consecration   At The Baptismal Font The Exultet The Exultet The Preparation of The Paschal Candle The Blessing of The New Fire

Of what sublime dignity is the office of the Christian priest who is thus privileged to act as the ambassador and the vice-regent of Christ on earth! He continues the essential ministry of Christ: he teaches the faithful with the authority of Christ, he pardons the penitent sinner with the power of Christ, he offers up again the same sacrifice of adoration and atonement which Christ offered on Calvary. No wonder that the name which spiritual writers are especially fond of applying to the priest is that of alter Christus . For the priest is and should be another Christ” ( The Faith of Millions , 255-56). - Fr. John Anthony O'Brien The Holy Ghost in the Mass forms us in prayer. The Holy Ghost in the Mass forms prayer in us. The Holy Ghost in the Mass forms us into a prayer to God. As Catholics, our personal or individual prayer must be in harmony with the Sacred Liturgy wherein we encounter the Lord Jesus Who is Himself the One Who prays the Mass. We are joined to Christ's action...

Satire may be mad and anarchic, but it presupposes an admitted superiority in certain things over others; it presupposes a standard. -  G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy A poke at folk whose actions past and present could invite considerably more. (T)he real disloyalty is not speaking the truth with love. And that word “love” is not some free-floating balloon of goodwill. It’s an empty shell without the truth to fill it. In Brazil in 2013, the Holy Father encouraged young people to “make a mess.” That’s come to pass in ways surely unintended by the pope. But in the end, pastoral leaders are accountable for their words and their actions. Because, as St. Paul said so long ago, “God is not the author of confusion but of peace.” - Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., is the Archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia Afflict the comfortable; comfort the afflicted. That 70s Vatican Show , a fashion extravaganza, featured designs promoting a rabid retro vibe. Organizer Fr. James Martin SJ, taking his cue fr...

How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world. - Shakespeare A tidbit adapted from The Catholic Encyclopedia. (Edited by Gilbert) The word candle ( candela , from candeo , to burn) entered the English language as an ecclesiastical term in the eighth century. It was recognised in classical times as any type of taper in which a wick, typically composed of a strip of papyrus, was encased in wax or animal fat. The use of a great number of candles and lights was undoubtedly an important aspect of the Easter vigil, which dates back to Apostolic times. Eusebius ( Vita Constant ., IV, xxii) describes Constantine's "pillars of wax" that transformed night into day, while Prudentius and other authors highlight the churches' radiance. According to St. Jerome (342–347 – 419/420), candles were lit when the Gospel was read as a symbol of joy. (Migne, P. L., XXIII, 345) This remark, combined with the close association of lighted candles with th...