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Young priest says: “Saints, deliver us from [bishop’s] prudence!” May 13, 2013

Posted by Tantumblogo in abdication of duty, Basics, Bible, disaster, episcopate, error, foolishness, General Catholic, Liturgical Year, priests, sadness, scandals, secularism, Tradition, true leadership.
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I haven’t read Fr. Ryan Erlenbush’s blog much recently, and shame on me, I suppose. His most recent post is an excoration of the Novus Ordo (entitled, “Ascension Sunday” – The banal fabrication we call the Mass)  and especially the mangled liturgical calendar we now have, which has been totally cut off from Tradition and left Catholics adrift in a sea of mangled seasons, with no clear connection to the very strong, very edifying currents of the former liturgical year.  This has all been done in the name of the almighty determinant of the post-Vatican II Church – pastoring.  The former calendar, still in use, thank God, at traditional parishes, which guided the lives and seasons of billions of Catholics for hundreds of years, just wasn’t pastoral enough.

Fr. Erlenbush’s post is pretty long, with extensive excerpts from the writings of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Some excerpts:

In the years since the Second Vatican Council, in an effort to make the liturgy more readily acceptable and agreeable to the people (with the obvious hope that they would grow in devotion and love for God), there have been a number of changes to the liturgical calendar. Furthermore, it has also happened that certain adaptations may be employed either by the local bishops’ conference or by a local bishop himself.
Most of these changes and possible adaptations have done little to encourage the devotion of the faithful, but have served only to destroy the little reverence and solemnity left to the Novus Ordo.
Happily, whatever the bishops may do to the public prayer of the Church, parents remain the primary leaders of the domestic church – the family. In this little article, we will discuss a few of the banalities present in the calendar of the New Mass (there are far too many to point out in a blog post, but we will mention those most obvious and egregious).
After this bit of introduction, Fr. Erlenbush addresses some specific ways in which the liturgical year has been vandalized in the name of making certain major feasts more “accessible” to the people – as if they weren’t accessible before!  It being that time of year, Fr. Erlenbush is especially peeved regarding the movement of Ascension Thursday to Sunday, and the mangling of the whole season of Ascension/Pentecost (and I heartily share his sentiments while adding emphasis and comments) :
The Bishops of the United States, exercising their pastoral prudence and with the blessing of the Holy See, have chosen to move the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord to the following Sunday (thus abrogating the 7th Sunday of Easter).
To this, Sacred Scripture states:
The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, of all things which Jesus began to do and to teach, Until the day on which, giving commandments by the Holy Ghost to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up. To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion, by many proofs, for forty days appearing to them, and speaking of the kingdom of God. […]And when he had said these things, while they looked on, he was raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight. (Acts of the Apostles 1:1-3,9)
The inerrant and historical Scriptures tell us that Jesus was with his disciples for precisely forty days after his Resurrection. That means that he ascended on a Thursday. He was not with his disciples for forty-three days, but for exactly forty days. To say otherwise would be to deny the truth of the Bible, it would be a veritable heresy.
Now, the bishops are not committing heresy, obviously. [I don’t know, it depends on the bishop. Some certainly have proclaimed heresy, stating things like souls get a do-over at their particular judgment, in the event they’ve led a dissolute life.  Even collectively, one closely reading statements from the USCCB can find many statements, especially from documents produced back in the 80s, that give one great pause, to say the least.]  They are not stating that Jesus ascended on a Sunday, obviously. [I think one could argue that, in effect, they actually are, even if not intentionally doing so.]  They are simply setting aside the venerable tradition and the Scriptures themselves in the name of “prudence”. [This statement is problematic. I don’t think one reasonably can set aside Tradition and Scripture in the name of prudence. Expedience, possibly, but not prudence. How could it be prudent to confuse souls and mangle the liturgical calendar?]  Oh, what “prudence” this is! Saints deliver us from such “prudence”!
What is particularly devastating about this disintegration of the liturgical calendar is that we lose the novena from Ascension to Pentecost. If Ascension is celebrated on Sunday, then our “novena” will be only six days (from Monday to Saturday). When the Ascension is on Thursday, we gain the true novena (from Friday to the following Saturday).
Father Erlenbush closes by noting that families, overcoming the obstinant resistance they experience from their own Church leaders, can choose to follow the older calendar and go ahead and offer a Pentecost Novena.  And while I certainly agree with that sentiment, perhaps even a better idea would be for families disappointed by the continued banality of the current liturgical calendar in the Novus Ordo can simply switch to the traditional Mass and the traditional calendar that accompanies it. Not only do you not have to put up with bizaare things like Ascension Sunday and other major, former Holy Days of Obligation being rolled into Sunday, frequently squashing very important Sunday commemorations in their own right, or general nuttiness with Scripture readings for the Mass often being totally cut-off from the Saint commemorated that day or the liturgical season, but you get the whole panoply of the liturgical year’s bounty!  You get Ember Days, Rogation Days, Septuagesima, Scripture tailored exactly for the life of the Saint being celebrated, or Corpus Christi on a Thursday, not Sunday, constant focus on the liturgical season via readings and Propers so that one truly feels immersed in the season, etc., etc!
I also think perhaps a better idea for Fr. Erlenbush would be to adopt the traditional Mass himself, and as much of the traditional calendar as he can get away with! That’s the best way to deal with these very legitimate complaints!
I had meant to do a post today, anyway, sort of on this subject, but I didn’t have the time. It’s about how many in the Church, in thrall of the various “movements,” (liturgical, evangelical, whatever) erroneously believe that if the Church only enact their reforms/deforms, then all will be well. Such was the belief of many in the Church in the mid-20th century – if we only “modernize” the Mass (or insert whatever pet project, the charismatic movement, etc), then we’ll get souls all charged up about this glorious treasure and we’ll be able to reverse the decline in the Church!  But the exact opposite has happened. And the tragedy is, it was predicted to happen, decades before the reforms took place. Because the fixation on the Mass, or the “new evangelization,” et. al., has always just been a mask or cover for the real problem, which is the failure to inculcate the Faith in souls. Instead of doing the hard work of formation, the Church has latched on to program after program, reform after reform, trying to bring souls over through some glitzy, Madison Avenue type effort.  These efforts, while often being very damaging themselves, have entirely missed the point, some think purposefully so. Anyway, more on that tomorrow, I pray!

Gosnell convincted of 3 counts of murder, 1 of involuntary manslaughter May 13, 2013

Posted by Tantumblogo in Abortion, contraception, disaster, General Catholic, sadness, scandals, sickness, Society.
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He’s going to be in prison for the rest of his life.  If he doesn’t get the death penalty, that is:

A Philadelphia jury has found late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell guilty of murdering three of four babies in his capital murder trial.

He is also guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 abortion death of Karnamaya Mongar, a 41-year-old legal immigrant who died when his untrained staff administered an overdose of sedatives.

The jury found Gosnell guilty of murdering Babies A, C, and D. Gosnell quipped Baby A, who was photographed by one of his employees, Andrienne Moton, was big enough to “walk me to the bus stop.”

Jurors found Gosnell had committed first-degree murder when he allowed the babies to be born alive, then “snipped” their spinal cords with scissors — a practice his employees said they saw him perform “hundreds” of times.

The verdict, which was announced this afternoon in the courtroom of Judge Jeffrey Minehart, means Gosnell will face the death penalty at sentencing.

The jury had been hung over 2 counts in the indictment. Gosnell was originally indicted on over 200 charges, of which several murder charges were thrown out by the judge overseeing the case. It appears the jury had been hung on the 4th murder charge, not being able to decide whether one of the infants was born alive or not.

Any reasonably moral nation should be so utterly revulsed at the atrocities Gosnell committed that the entire genre in question – in this case, abortion – should be under heavy, heavy question.  How could this come to be? How can abortion mills, which perform incredibly invasive surgical procedures, not face regular inspection?  How often are babies born alive, and then killed? What really is the difference between killing a baby in the birth canal, and killing it inches outside it?  How can any moral people countenance these acts of barbarity – not extreme exceptions, but part and parcel of the abortion industry – that occur with grim regularity, hundreds of times a day, every day, every year?

But the media has effectively blocked even a tacit discussion of all these questions, and many more.

I pray for Gosnell’s sincere conversion and repentance. I think he may get the chance to work some penance in prison – if his money and his lawyer don’t keep him out of it.  It ain’t over, yet.  There could be years of appeals.  But at least a small measure of justice has been served to the thousands, tens of thousands he’s killed.

 

Pope Francis joins Roman March for Life May 13, 2013

Posted by Tantumblogo in Abortion, awesomeness, contraception, episcopate, General Catholic, Papa, Society, true leadership, Virtue.
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This is quite fantastic.  Even more fantastic, would be for Pope Francis in cope and chasuble, leading the March for Life with the Blessed Sacrament raised high:

 Pope Francis surprised about 40,000 Italian and international participants in today’s Marcia per la Vita (March for Life) Internazionale in Rome this morning, when he left the Apostolic Palace to greet them personally from his popemobile in the street where they were lined up.

Monsignore Ignacio Barreiro, the head of the Rome office of Human Life International, told LifeSiteNews.com that for the pope to have effectively joined the March for Life was highly unusual.

….In a shout-out to the marchers from his usual weekly Regina Coeli address, the pope briefly welcomed the crowd and endorsed a European-wide pro-life petition against embryo research.

The ‘One of Us’ campaign is seeking to gain 1 million signatures as part of a European Citizen Initiative. If organizers of the campaign achieve their goal the European Parliament is duty-bound to schedule a debate on the issue.

“I invite you to keep the attention of everyone on the important issue of respect for human life from the moment of conception,” the pope told the marchers.

He also invited all to attend the Vatican’s “Evangelium Vitae Day,” which he said would be “a special moment especially for those who care about the defense of the sanctity of human life,” to take place “in the context of the Year of Faith,” on 15 and 16 June.

March organisers were delighted with the greeting and with the extraordinary surge of numbers from last year’s march, which attracted 15,000 from around the country.

“The welcome of Pope Francis represents the highest recognition for the initiative and the confirmation of the sensitivity of the Pope to the non-negotiable principles, beginning with the right to life,” organisers said.

Mons. Barreiro also described the dramatic increase in numbers, from 1000 two years ago, to 15,000 last year, to about 40,000 today. This he put down to the hard work of the organisers in helping thousands come by bus from up and down the length of Italy, and to a “renewed awareness” among the public that Italy’s abortion law “must be abrogated.”

“The people are now really certain that we have to stake a stronger position than that which has been held in the past by some Italian pro-life groups.”

Certainly, a Pope with a populist touch that rivals Blessed John Paul II.  I suspect, given the Pope’s presence this year, next year’s march might top 100,000.

Video from Rome Reports, hopefully they won’t sue me:

Latin Mass tonight at St. Mark May 13, 2013

Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, Dallas Diocese, General Catholic, Latin Mass, North Deanery.
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7pm at St. Mark in Plano.

splendor

Fr. Rodriguez’ plea to our nation’s bishops May 13, 2013

Posted by Tantumblogo in abdication of duty, awesomeness, Basics, episcopate, error, General Catholic, persecution, priests, scandals, secularism, self-serving, sexual depravity, sickness, Society, true leadership, Virtue.
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This was given on Ascension Thursday. I like how Fr. Rodriguez gives very detailed, specifically-composed prayers at the introduction of his sermons. That is rare, even among traditional priests.

There is about 17 minutes of actual sermon, outside the prayer.

There is a great listing of just some of the authoritative, dogmatic statements from popes and councils regarding Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus, or outside the Church there is no salvation, from ~8:45 – 10:00.

Discusses Quas Primas and the Social Kingship of Jesus Christ from 10:00 – 11:00.

There is much more. If you listen to no other part, at least listen to 18:30 – 18:55, when he describes to the bishops of Holy Mother Church that we, the Church, exist in a spiritual battle with the forces of darkness, and for quite some time, the forces of darkness have been slaughtering us.  I ask, me, tantamergo, I ask: how can that be?  It’s absolutely true, but given the overwhelming power of Christ and His Church over satan and all evil, how can the Church be losing this battle?  There is only one answer – we are not pleasing Christ in our belief or practice.

Please pray for Fr. Rodriguez. He is one of a very few fully canonically regular priests who are willing to say these things, especially with regard to the failures of episcopal leadership in the Church.  The crisis in the Church is, much like the Arian heresy, a crisis of bishops.  And since bishops are the ones given the Grace to lead the Church and lead the fight for the soul of the culture, when they fail to cooperate with that Grace, the result is catastrophe for the Church.  Which is precisely what we have seen in the past 50 years.

But none dare speak that truth, because it tends to elicit a violent response.  Fr. Rodriguez has experienced that response. He is, quite literally, a voice crying in the wilderness.  Pray that he remain steadfast!  And pray that he not be unjustly persecuted any further!