A Treasure To Be Shared

Hand of God, from a fresco at Saint Clement of Taüll, Catalonia. Almighty God and Father, vouchsafe to grant Thy servants the grace that illuminates minds and conforms wills to the truth revealed by Thy Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Pour forth Thy Holy Spirit to guide them and all Synod delegates in perfect faithfulness to the Apostolic Tradition for the glory of Thy Name, for the unity of the Body of Christ, and for the salvation of souls. In Jesus' Name. Amen. Hail Mary... Glory be... Holy Michael, archangel... His Eminence Gérald Cyprien Cardinal LACROIX, I.S.P.X., Archbishop of Québec His Grace John Michael MILLER, C.S.B., Archbishop of Vancouver The Most Reverend William Terrence McGRATTA, Bishop of Calgary The Most Reverend Raymond POISSON, Bishop of Saint-Jérôme - Mont-Laurier The Most Reverend Marc PELCHAT, Auxiliary Bishop of Québec, Titular Bishop of Lambesi The Reverend Gilles ROUTHIER, professor in the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at Laval Universi...

Q. When are we most Catholic? A. We are our most true selves when we are in the Mass worshipping God. There we are humbled before God and embraced by our Maker; are grateful recipients of God's sustaining grace, His very life, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ; recognize we can do nothing without God; acknowledge our utter dependence on God for our salvation and eternal life; are commissioned to serve the mission of Christ and His Church, the salvation of souls. The reasons for which Mass is offered are: to adore God as our Creator and Lord. to thank God for His many favors. to ask God to bestow His blessings on all men. to satisfy the justice of God for the sins committed against Him. to cooperate with God for the salvation of souls. Catholic Worship is oriented to God the Holy Trinity, to the Father through the Son in the Spirit. Liturgy is “medial”—that is, neither pure activity on our part, nor pure passivity, but both and neither, like the “middle voice” of some ancient langu...

Dichotomy Catholic Neophilia - everything new is great. Catholic Neophobia - everything new is bad. In fairness, Catholic neophiliacs fear the old as much as they love the new. Likewise, Catholic neophobes fear the new as much as they love the old. Not everything new is bad; not everything new is great. Not everything old is bad; not everything old is great. Now that that's all said, let's move on. The recent struggles of Latin Mass enthusiasts are so very unfortunate, and unnecessary. How can 'the old' be a threat unless those who consider 'the new' to be so fragile that highly proscriptive measures are imposed (necessary?) to make 'the threat', i.e., 'the old', go away so that the new may flourish? The following equation is unfounded. It is math that frequently finds a home among neophiles in the blogosphere. Latin Mass enthusiasts appreciate the older Form, ∴ their preference constitutes a rejection of the new Mass produced by the Consilium co...

An Outline of Ascetical Theology According to the English Pastoral Tradition  (London: S.P.C.K., 1963), xiv. Martin Thornton Preface At the heart of Anglicanism is the insistence on historical continuity; if our claims are true then our spirituality, that is our total expression of Christian life, as well as our theology, liturgy, and polity, must be retraceable through the medieval and patristic ages to the Bible. I have tried, therefore, to portray the English School as a living tradition, drawing its inspiration and character from all ages, while set within the glorious diversity of Catholic Christendom. Rather than preoccupation with the past, I believe that it is this comprehensive view which can inspire creative insights into the spiritual needs of the twentieth century: a good tree, especially an ancient one, bears new fruit only when attention is paid to its roots. Not the Pleasantly Social, but the Truth Anthony Esolen To search for truth, to guard and study it when it is ...

The Holy Gospel according to St. John 12:32 (A)nd I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. Former Baptist Pastor (John Thompson) Explains His Conversion to Catholicism https://www.ncregister.com/blog/john-thompson-former-baptist-pastor-becomes-catholic I went back and looked at worship in the early Church. I expected to find the Baptist Church with preaching and worship that reflected Baptist beliefs. Yet I found that the earliest post-Scriptural documents that we have speak of liturgy from the very beginning. You don’t find the free worship of the Baptist or the Evangelical tradition. You find the liturgy, forms of worship and set prayers from very early in the Church. And, most importantly, you find not just the Liturgy of the Word, the proclaimed or preached Word of God, but you have the Liturgy of the Eucharist. You discover the two-fold action of hearing the Word of God and responding by offering up the Sacrifice through which you receive the Body, Blood...

If ever there was a more unsettling moment exposing the divide between Catholics of one liturgical preference versus another, its impact would have to be measured against the fallout created by the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes that has seen many people - left and right - pointing dirty fingers in the direction of their enemies, their fellow Catholics. What can we in the Personal Ordinariates established by the Apostolic Constitution provide to shape discussions to preserve charity and unity in the truth? It seems to this blogger that our very identity can offer something of a healing balm to be applied to the wounds opened or reopened in the wake of the release of the Holy Father's document. To those who claim to be "traditionalists" who are cautioning that a restriction upon the Ordinariate is just as likely as what is happening to the 1962 Missal communities, one might respond that ours is a liturgical, spiritual and cultural heritage that transcends the polemics ...

One of the factors that motivated this convert-blogger to migrate toward the Ordinariate was the heroism of former-Anglicans whose courage at leaving behind the relative comfort of their Anglican parishes to launch out into the deep and to "swim the Tiber" recalls the acts of the disciples, and saints down through history, who left everything to follow Christ. The courage of those souls was an effective counterweight to my own tepidity. In their stories, I identified with the alienation from family and friends experienced at reception into the Church. In my case, in my twenties, some thirty-five years ago. Thankfully, in answer to prayer, my family became reconciled to my becoming Catholic in the years following my confirmation. If people need a refuge from the ubiquitous confusion and a forum in which they can worship God and work out their salvation in trembling and fear (Philippians 2:12), that is, with awe and deference to the commandments of Christ (John 14:15-31), the O...

Youtube/Turley & Ashenden/Screenshot An NCRegister/Kevin Turley story. https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/from-canterbury-to-rome-why-the-queens-former-chaplain-became-catholic As we walk around the ancient streets of Walsingham, the most obvious question is, of course: Why did he decide to become a Catholic? “Slowly, but surely,” Ashenden explained, “over the last 10 years it became clearer, both in my mind and in my prayers, that what the Catholic Church taught, particularly about the Mass, was not only true, but had always been true, from the Apostolic Fathers onwards.” [...] “So as my own tradition disappeared from under my feet,” he continued, “a number of voices in the Catholic Church, among them my own local Catholic bishop [Bishop Davies], reminded me that a struggle for the purity and faithfulness of the Church would never be wasted if it were brought to the service of Catholicism. Bishop Mark asked me to act on my convictions and be reconciled w...

Pugin, Rood Screen at St. Giles' Church Now, more than ever, the Ordinariate is needed to help Catholics orient themselves to God. We in the Ordinariate, a community born of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of UNity in the Truth, the Mover of former Anglicans and all people of goodwill to unity with the Church founded by Jesus Christ on Peter the Chief Apostle, understand well what it is to live in the midst of turmoil as one or more Anglican bodies have descended into conformity with the world and the ensuing doctrinal confusion that accompanies flirtation with insanity. For those such as yours truly, received into the Church in the 1980s, long before the Ordinarate was conceived, and having fairly recently discovered the Ordinariate and its beautiful form of the Mass, the Ordinariate offers a refuge from loose play with the Sacred Liturgy. Speaking as an outsider for a moment, communities of the Ordinariate offer disillusioned Catholics and those earnestly seeking revere...