A new religious order worthy of consideration January 9, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, General Catholic, Glory, Grace, Interior Life, Latin Mass, persecution, religious, sanctity, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
I stumbled across a new religious order that was stood up in Tyler just this year, at the Feast of Corpus Christi, I believe. This order is the Brigittini Servitores 
Sanctissimi Salvatoris (Brigittine Servitores of the Most Holy Savior) and is located adjacent to the FSSP parish in Tyler. They have a website here. The group is still very small and new. They describe themselves thusly:
Essentially contemplatives, they engage in an apostolate of assisting the Holy Father and bishops to implement “Ecclesia Dei Adflicta” and Summorum Pontificum, while living a life centered on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the full Divine Office in the 1962 Rite (sic: Missal).
They promote the public recitation of the Divine Office by helping the Catholic faithful to appreciate and to recite it correctly and to promote its public recitation also promoting Latin literacy through seminars, formal courses of instruction, and correspondence courses. They correspond with priests, religious and laity interested in the traditional Latin liturgy and in the work of the Servitores, also disseminating information regarding churches, parishes, and religious orders using the Traditional Latin liturgy and other pertinent information for the promotion of the same. They also organize days of recollection and confernces for Catholics interested in the traditional Latin liturgy.
Perhaps you have a daughter, or know of a woman, discerning a vocation to the religious life? Perhaps she is attracted to the traditional Mass and traditional practice of the Faith? This new order could be a very exciting opportunity to help build a new religious community dedicated to the service of Christ and His Church 
according to the timeless practice of the Faith. You can contact the Brigittini Servitores as shown below:
Sister Margarita O.S.s.S.
Residentia Geatus Vilmos Apor
PO Box 4025 Tyler TX 75712 USA
You can e-mail Sister Margarita at servitores5@gmail.com.
The Brigittines are not one of the better known religious orders, especially of late. They were once very widespread, but were for various reasons mostly situated in northern Europe and their monasteries were destroyed by (what else?) the protestant revolt. How great would it be to help them grow and expand here in the US, in Texas? How blessed would it be to have another thriving, orthodox community of nuns here close to the Dallas area? I pray they grow like crazy! If you are a woman discerning a vocation to the religious life, especially a more traditional practice, why not contact Sister Margarita and see if this is the path God is calling you to?
Dominus vobiscum!
Remember Dear Christian January 9, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, Dallas Diocese, Four Last Things, General Catholic, Grace, Interior Life, North Deanery, religious, sanctity, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
YOU HAVE BUT ONE SOUL TO SAVE,
ONE GOD TO LOVE AND TO SERVE,
ONE ETERNITY TO EXPECT,
DEATH WILL COME SOON,
JUDGMENT WILL FOLLOW, AND THEN,
HEAVEN OR HELL FOREVER!!
Therefore, O Child of Jesus and Mary,
Avoid sin and all dangerous occasions of sin.
Pray without ceasing.
Go frequently to Confession and to Holy Communion.
A helpful reminder from the Transalpine Redemptorists.
Forget the liturgical dance! January 9, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in Art and Architecture, asshatery, Basics, episcopate, error, foolishness, General Catholic, Liturgy, sadness, scandals, secularism.comments closed
This is what passes for a cathedral? Theater in the round?
On second thought, the dance is pretty bad.
And this, for the translation of relics, on the Feast of the Epiphany? And the Cathedral is more than half-empty?
It’s just so very secular – the music, the dance, the flags, the building, the altar – all of it.
h/t Rorate Caeli
“You mean, you actually agree with everything the Church believes?” January 9, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in Admin, catachesis, disaster, error, General Catholic, Sacraments, scandals, secularism.comments closed
Such were the words relayed to a family member I spoke with over the break, who also happens to teach a Confirmation class in the Archidiocese of San Antonio. The occasion for this exchange was some discussion regarding what the Church believes regarding marriage and sexuality, including the falsity of state recoginition of gays simulating marriage, which this young person apparently strongly believed was an atrocity on the part of the Church. How could the Church “deny” the right to marry to two people who love each other so very much? As the conversation broadened, my relation stated that they believe everything the Church believes to the best of their ability. The teen found that incredible.
Thus, in microcosm, the effect of 50 years of not only failure to teach the Truth Christ has revealed through His Church, but, frequently, teaching things that contradict that Truth. We are, quite actually, at a point in the Church today that very few who call themselves Catholic – even most of those active in the Church on a week-in, week-out basis – actually accept ALL that the Church believes.
I know I have ranted on this subject interminably in the past, but this massive apostasy is the cancer eating away at the vitality of the Church. Hundreds of years, thousands of martyrs, and millions of words were spent in the early Church understanding and codifying what Chirst revealed – what He meant by what He said in the Gospel, which is frequently not only unclear, but seemingly shocking coming from a Savior, a Redeemer. He really did say I come not to be bring peace and harmony, but the sword of division. He really did say that some would be on the right, pleasing to God and availed of salvation, while those on the left would be forced to depart, accursed, into everlasting fire. No one mentions hell or damnation in the Bible as much as Christ – by a huge margin.
I think on how the early Church suffered and struggled to understand what the Gospels and the Inspired Letters meant, and how much the Church suffered to keep its understanding and practice of that Doctrine pure, and now we see entire generations lost, being assured that “it doesn’t really matter” whether one holds to this belief of that, so long as one “is basically a good person,” you’re assured of salvation. Or, in so many cases, as long as you are not an absolute moral monster on the scale of Molotov, Yamashita, or Guevara, you’ll be saved – and won’t our “loving God” probably cave on them in the end, too?
In so many parishes around the country (and world), for so many years, such questions have been asked, and the answer given has been that no, you really don’t have to believe all “that stuff” to be a faithful Catholic. In fact, you can reject what the Church believes and go ahead and receive Sacrament that hinges on total acceptance, which implies a complete submission to Christ and His Church, and a huge influx of Grace.
But if one rejects what the Church believes, the Sacrament is made a mockery of, and I don’t think the Grace will flow. Which is why we have so many gravely wounded Catholics wandering around today, lost in sin, ignorant of their Faith, totally absorbed in the world – what profound uncharitableness has been worked against them, allowing such souls to go through the motions of a Sacrament when their soul and heart are not in a state to receive It! All to avoid conflict, or to possess a worldly feel-good vibe, or to engage in meaningless ecumenical “dialogue,” in short, to prefer a cult of man to the Cult of God. How many souls receive Sacraments for which they are unprepared, unworthy, and whose efficacy can, at the very most, be highly doubted? And do we wonder why our Church is so full of souls who stare in blank ignorance at the magnificence of the Real Presence?
I pray for these poor lost souls. I pray for those who don’t have the strength of Faith or conviction to say to them “I’m sorry, you can’t receive Confirmation if you can’t believe or practice what the Church believes, if you outright say the Church is wrong.”
First Profession of Vows at the Priory of Ephesus January 9, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, General Catholic, Glory, Grace, Interior Life, Latin Mass, persecution, priests, religious, sanctity, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
Last April, a young woman from the former San Juan Bautista parish in El Paso took her first vows at the Benedictines of Mary Queen of the Apostles at the Priory of Ephesus in Missouri. Bishop Robert Finn was present, as was good friend of this blog Fr. Michael Rodriguez and several young men from San Juan Bautista serving at the Mass. The TLM High Mass was offered by a priest of the FSSP, which has a close association with the Priory of Ephesus. JMJHFProductions produced two high quality videos of this blessed event, and posted them recently on Youtube. Here they are:
Part 2:
Fr. Rodriguez plays a central role in the Mass, although he is not the celebrant.
What a glorious occasion! I have assisted at clothings of nuns at the Carmel in Dallas (and, I think there are some clothings or professions coming soon at the Carmel! – I need more info!), but it’s different with the cloister they keep, the sister being behind the screen. Nevertheless, they were very moving, inspiring occasions. There is something so glorious about a young person offering themselves to Christ in a state of purity, denying so much of what the world sees as absolutely essential for “fun” and “happiness” in order to pursue the true happiness and life-fulfilling satisfaction that flows from our Lord and Savior. I never cease to be amazed at people who are willing to offer their lives to God in this most complete of manners, trading the world for the traditional life of a religious in a cloister. Lord, send us more such souls!
The Benedictines of Mary Queen of the Apostles continue to grow. They have of course moved into a newer and larger monastery but even that may be filled up soon, if they continue to attract women to this life of prayer, work, and self-denial. I think they are up to 21 now? I know in a Carmel, if they get much above that number, they will tend to “separate for me Paul and Barnabas” and start a new chapter. Anyways, these faithful religious orders always need your help, so please consider supporting, in your charity, the Benedictines.
Does anyone know if religious orders are subject to diocesan assessments? Do they get “assessed” by their orders/regionals? I know some pious souls have concern where their money may wind up if it is assessed by a Church entity that then spends some of that money on something they simply cannot support. I know those souls would like to find places for donations that are “safe.” This may be a separate post, later, but I would like to help people (myself included) caught in this conundrum. Any input (even negative, as in, it’s almost impossible to escape these assessments) would be appreciated.
I’m back and abrasive as ever! January 9, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in Admin, awesomeness, Basics, Ecumenism, episcopate, fun, General Catholic, sickness, Society.comments closed
I had a whole bunch of stuff set up for my return day today, then I forgot it! Ah, well, hopefully tomorrow.
Sorry for the extended break! I didn’t intend to be completely silent the last 2 1/2 weeks, but that’s what developed. To get started back up, here is a little something I found at John Sonnen’s site:
No, Virginia, all religions are not the same. Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus is “still” operative, in spite of what you may have heard from Fr. Flowerchild these last 30 years.
A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics 