A Treasure To Be Shared

Unlike the Novus Ordo Missae which has the Penitential Rite at the beginning of Mass, Divine Worship - the Mass of the Ordinariate, also known as the Traditional English Mass - has the Penitential Rite placed at the transept of the Liturgy. That is, it is located after the Prayers of the People and before the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, previously known as the Liturgy of the Faithful, when the non-baptized - i.e., those being schooled in the Way and not yet admitted to Holy Communion - would be excused from the Mass. The Ordinariate Liturgy is a member of the family of Latin Rite liturgies, a relative newcomer to that family which includes, for example, the Novus Ordo Missae, the Usus Antiquior (1962 Missal), the Dominican Rite, the Mozarabic Rite, the Rite of Braga, the Zaire Use, and the Ambrosian Rite. The Penitential Rite of Divine Worship invites worshippers of God to abandon the lazy slang of dower and dull religionists to allow God to sing in and through hearts pu...

Mothering Sunday | Refreshment Sunday | Laetare Sunday Laetare Jerusalem et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam; gaudete cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis, ut exsultetis et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis vestrae. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem; and be ye glad for her, all ye that delight in her: exult and sing for joy with her, all ye that in sadness mourn for her; that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations. Psalm: I was glad when they said unto me, We will go into the house of the Lord. We in the Ordinariate know well the many blessings we receive from God. First and foremost, Divine Worship, the Mass of the Ordinariate is, without exaggeration, magnificent! Every Mass, be it Said, Solemn or Solemn High, is a fitting testimony to the glory and mercy of God Who, through human agents, has extended the life of the Anglican Patrimony and brought its flesh and blood into harmony with Holy Mother Church. Not much of anything at all needs to be preached...

... a Supreme Pontiff is a consummate theologian whose grace-filled words of truth, faithful to the received Tradition of the Church, empower believers to remain steadfast in the Faith. ... a bishop is more concerned about the salvation of souls than politics and economics. ... a priest is courageous, speaks the truth in love, and stands up boldly for his flock with charity and grace while celebrating the Mass with due reverence. ... fellow parishioners believe in the Real Presence of Jesus, worship God in the beauty of holiness, and defend life from conception to natural death. Conversely, when the going gets tough and a pope or bishop or priest becomes, how shall we say, intellectually and verbally cumbersome, and demonstrates odd or uncharitable behaviour, faithful Catholics fervently pray for their spiritual fathers. And when... . ... a bishop gets distracted by power and/or material concerns, or becomes decadent and bound to worldly preoccupations, we offer him charitable fraterna...

The Holy Trinity and Saints in Glory | Sebastiano Conca Perhaps a few readers will find the following notes a compass by which to construct a personal rule. All summaries are inadequate. Read above and between the lines. Trust in God; keep the commandments of Christ (Saint John 14:15-17). Grace is the help God gives us to respond to our vocation of becoming his adopted sons. It introduces us into the intimacy of the Trinitarian life (CCC 2021). Commit to spiritual direction.   The Holy Spirit gives to certain of the faithful the gifts of wisdom, faith and discernment for the sake of this common good which is prayer (spiritual direction). Men and women so endowed are true servants of the living tradition of prayer. According to St. John of the Cross, the person wishing to advance toward perfection should "take care into whose hands he entrusts himself, for as the master is, so will the disciple be, and as the father is so will be the son." And further: "In addition to ...

THE SUMMARY OF THE LAW Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. In our last visit we looked briefly at the remarkably succinct and sublime Collect For Purity . Now, we glide onward to its companion. A visitor to an Ordinariate Mass might rightly ask why are there two penitential rites? To those unfamiliar with the nuances of the Mass, one might think of the Mass as a microcosm of the liturgical year. An "Advent" precedes the Liturgy of the Word, what used to be called the Mass of the Catechumens. Advent, you will recall, is the season preceding Christmas, the birth of the Messiah. We prepare for the arrival of the Lord, the Word-Made-Flesh. The Introductory rites - that include the Collect...

Among the many precious gems to be found in Divine Worship: the Missal, the Mass of the Personal Ordinariates established under the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, is the Confession in the Penitential Rite. For those unfamiliar with Divine Worship, the Penitential Rite follows the Prayers of the People  after the Credo . The Rite includes a beautiful prayer, one among many in the Missal . ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker of all things, judge of all men: We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto us, the burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, fo...

A timely diagnosis of a condition is necessary to move a patient toward a cure. Old diseases continue to plague the human family; new ailments arise. Patients need reliable doctors (teachers) to provide treatments to enable health. Patients require a diet of truth, goodness and beauty to maintain health. We are witnessing in the Church a seemingly endless parade of clergymen standing trial for criminal and sinful behaviour. How or why is it that shepherds of the Church choose to become poison to the body? Pride? Lust? Addiction to sinful behaviours? Diabolical influence? Pope Benedict XVI said : (T)he Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already, but the Church of faith. She may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but she will enjoy a...

Scene from I, Robot (2004) A couple of days ago I happened to catch on CBC Radio a program concerning a latest fad: biohacking. Biohacking is the process of making changes to your lifestyle in order to “hack” your body’s biology and feel your best. You know the saying, “You are what you eat”? That actually applies to humans in a broader sense: everything we put into our bodies — our foods, our thoughts, our physical movement ­— all affect how we behave. By biohacking yourself, you can actually transform your body so that you feel more energized, be more productive and, overall, feel like the best possible version of yourself.- https://draxe.com/what-is-biohacking/ Enter the Dragon It should come as no surprise that those who seek to improve "quality of life" attempt to do so by (almost) all means necessary. There is never a time when the means by which (a purported) achievement in the realm of human development should not be thoroughly examined, perhaps with...