The glory of the purity September 20, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, General Catholic, Glory, Grace, Interior Life, Latin Mass, Liturgy, priests, sanctity, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
From Fr. Nicholas Gihr’s The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass Dogmatically, Liturgically, and Ascetically Explained, a nice little exegesis on the great need for – and glory of – purity. Purity is especially important for priests, who approach the most incredible, Holy Altar of Sacrifice, and literally come into contact with both Heaven, and the Almighty. I modify it a bit, but the point remains the same, and beautiful.
Brilliantly white, that is, perfectly pure, chaste and holy does the soul become only by many austerities, much self-denial and mortification, also only by the heavenly dew and bright rays of grace. In the form of a servant, amid untold hardships, by a bloody sweat the Son of God acquired for us the jewel of holiness ; He shed all His blood to cleanse us from sin; therefore, it is but just, that we should endeavor by prayer and tears, by works of penance and self-denial, to preserve unspotted or to regain the perfect purity, innocence and beauty of the soul. No labor should be deemed too difficult, no struggle too painful, no sacrifice too great to cleanse ourselves more and more “in the blood of the Lamb,” until our soul becomes “more spotless than the snow, whiter than milk, fairer than the sapphire” (Lam. 4, 7). For “blessed are they that wash their robes white in the blood of the Lamb, that they may have a right to the tree of life (that is, to the Beatific Vision of God), and enter in by the gates into the (heaven- ly) city” (Apoc. 22, 14).
The need for a spotless, white soul, therefore, daily admonishes the priest so to live, to watch and pray, that he may each time approach the holy altar with a pure mind, with an unblemished heart, with an untrammelled spirit, with holy joy and a secret longing. To ascend the mountain of the Lord and to stand in the holy place, where even the heavenly spirits tremble, the priest must be “innocent in hands and clean of heart” (Ps. 23,3 4), “holy in body and in spirit” (i Cor. 7, 34); then will he receive at the altar most abundant blessings from the Lord and mercy from God his Saviour (Ps. 23, 5). Therefore, should he earnestly and indefatigably strive by exercises of piety and works of charity, by self-denial and a penitential spirit, by watchfulness and humility to persevere and advance in the grace of God, to make progress in virtue and holiness, and purify his heart more and more not only from sin, but also from worldly, faulty and dangerous inclinations and attachments.
——————-End Quote——————–
Yes, such is very important not only for priests, but for all of us! But how much more important for priests, who daily enter into the Holy of Holies and literally not only confect Christ and hold Him in their hands, but also, through Christ acting through them, become alter Christus – another Christ! How deplorable to think that any priest – like those many who tried to satisfy their putrid lusts on innocent young boys – could approach this Sacred Altar with a sodden, dirty soul! No wonder such men seek to redefine the Church and the most august Sacrament down to something symbolic, to something low and earthly! Still, it is unthinkable! And think of all those who receive the Blessed Sacrament into mouths or hands still filthy with sin! I weep for them (and me!) and tremble for the justice the Almighty has in store for those who sully and blaspheme His Sacred place of Sacrifice and the Sacrifice itself! Lord, have mercy on them, and us!
May we all have the sincerest contrition, the firmest purpose of amendment, and an absolute resolution never to sin again when next we receive the Sacrament of Confessoin. We know we shall always fail, but by God’s Grace, may we at least get better each time.
h/t JLG for the photo
Fr. Peter Carota on blogging, fame, and money September 20, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, catachesis, episcopate, General Catholic, Interior Life, Latin Mass, priests, scandals, secularism, self-serving, Society, the enemy, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
I have to begin this post with a quick note of apology to “Traditional Catholic Priest,” whom I had misidentified as Fr. Saenz, when it is actually Fr. Peter Carota. Mea culpa! Sorry!
Fr. Carota has a really good post that touches on the whole Michael Voris/Catholic personality imbroglio that broke out late last month. He doesn’t deal with any of the personalities involved, but only discusses the dangers of mixing one’s love for the Church with one’s livelihood, or income. I like this piece, because Fr. Carota pretty much encapsulates my own views on mixing money and apologetics, while he also has more awesome art, some of which I steal and post here (all emphasis in original, I add some comments):
We traditional bloggers, YouTube-ers and speakers need to have great caution about becoming famous and earning money from our apostolate. 
Recently we have we have been hearing a good deal about the large salaries of Neo Cat. apologetic speakers. A little while ago I clicked on a headline of one of these speakers and was greeted with a plea for money. It went like this: “The summer times are slow and the money is not coming in as usual, so could you send $$$. It greatly saddened me, because I feel that this person does not need more money and it seemed as if he was using his apostolate to get money. I strongly believe that we should not be making money from converting people and saving souls.
Again a few days ago, a man told me he watches EWTN and enjoys it, but he added: “They sure do ask a lot for money“. Yes they need money to run the TV station. But do they really need to ask so much. If you watch protestant and non-denominational TV you will see the same thing. Send money. Send money. I remember the fall of Jimmy Swaggart and Jim and Tammy Bakker.
Similar to most of you, I would listen to Fr. John Corapi on Catholic Radio. I especially like that he told it like it was and spoke on the Spiritual Battle with the Devil. But I knew ahead of time there were going to be problems for him. At the end of every talk always came the pitch to get a CD from Santa Cruz communications. I also knew he received large amounts of money for his public speaking engagements. I also remember him talking about winning the million dollar settlement from the doctor who was going to do un-nessessary heart surgery on him. All this caused a red flag to go up. God and money are a dangerous combination. It can work out, but it has its big dangers.
A mens group in my parish sponsored him to come to Modesto California. I was the Master of Ceremony at the event. With his speaking fee, flight and hotel arrangements, (plus paying for the cost for his bodyguard), the event cost $10,000. At that time I had the opportunity to meet with him and listen to him. The Sisters of the Cross (Hermanas de la Cruz) had him over to their convent next door for lunch. Interestingly he told them how he had studied the “spirituality of the cross” by Conchita Cabrera de Armida for his Doctorate. It was soon after this that he would only speak once in a while at huge auditoriums. Big bucks. [Interesting tale. Will the Fr. Corapi boo-birds show up?]
Why am I bringing this up? Not to get down on Fr. John Corapi, but to tell all of us involved in the Catholic world of preaching the Gospel, to watch out for fame and money. It makes me upset that when you invite a Neo Cat speaker, (and most of the apologetic writers and speakers) to come to a parish, you have to pay a very large speaking fee to them. They also sell their books and CD’s and DVD’s. I just can not see Jesus having a fee to come and preach the Gospel.
I have no problem with taking up a collection at the end of the talk or mission. [I know one very well known – and oh-so-controversial! – Catholic apologist/video producer who takes a more or less at-will offering at the end of this talk. Almost all demand an upfront payment.] But what has happened is that we have produced a Catholic job market of ex-protestant speakers and other Catholics who make a lot of money talking 
on TV and Radio programs and going around to parishes. We need these speakers, but they should be doing it for free like Jesus. [Do you think that is right? Do you agree with Fr. Carota that apologists should not make an income off the Church/faithful? I think as Michael Voris has shown, doing so provides huge avenues for self-interest and outside pressure, perhaps from liberal bishops, to affect the content of the apologetics. I think there might be some room for making income, but it has to be done carefully, and not subject to the bishop’s control mechanism, the sainted, vaunted, absolutely necessary “letter of approval.” I doubt I could get one!] Yes, St. Paul said that the worker deserves his keep, but St. Paul also went around working with his own hands as a tent maker so that he would not be a burden to anyone to whom he brought the Gospel.
And then, sad to say, very few of these famous speakers are in favor of the traditional Catholic Mass or questioning of “new doctrines” or what you might call “the evolution of Catholic doctrine”. They will not criticize Vatican II or bring up the problems that it has caused in the Church. One of the reasons is that they are mostly new Catholics whom never experienced how great the Catholic Faith was before. And if you are too critical you will probably not get the paid engagement or get permission to come speak. [No, it’s a 100% certitude. Question the Council, criticize the post-conciliar Church, and you’re done for in the Catholic Speaker’s Guild]
The other very very serious danger is that of fame and pride. How many other great and famous Catholic personalities have fallen from grace recently? It is of great concern when this happens. How many great Catholics and non-Catholics were scandalized by the fall from grace of Fr. Corapi? I was in the Philippines working with the poor some years ago. Fr Corapi was the favorite of so many I talked to there. He was helping millions become better christians. But when we become famous and rich, watch out. The devil hates the saving of souls and will literally do anything he can to make us fall.
—————–End Quote—————
Sorry, Father, I ripped off almost your whole post. But there is a bit more there, including a very nice conclusion.
As for the below……….sweet! Ukranian Catholic!
Hugh Owen to give talk on Creation, Evolution, and the Cultures of Life and Death….. September 20, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Bible, catachesis, Christendom, Dallas Diocese, error, General Catholic, history, secularism, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
…..at Mater Dei Latin Mass Church in Irving this coming Tuesday, September 24, at 7pm. A shorter talk on the same subject will be offered after the 12:10 Mass on Tuesday. Snacks and child care will be provided at both talks, but please RSVP if you plan to attend, so the parish can provide adequate seating, snacks, and child care attendants. You can RSVP by calling the parish at 972-438-7600.
Mr. Owen is the convert son of Sir David Owen, a former secretary general of International Planned Parenthood Federation. Mr. Owen directs the Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation which provides a forum for Catholic theologians, philosophers, and natural scientists all over the world who are dedicated to making sure that the evidence for and against the theory of evolution is made available to Church leaders and to the lay faithful. Mr. Owen and his colleagues have participated in conferences on creation and evolution at major academic centers in Europe, including a conference at Gustav Siewerth Akademie in Germany which received the explicit blessing and encouragement of Pope Benedict XVI. Mr. Owen’s presentation will deepen your faith in the wisdom and goodness of God and in the perfect harmony between natural science and divine revelation.
I can say it will do much more than that. I have only read a little bit of Kolbe Center material, and I have been meaning for some time to focus more time and energy on the subject of Creation viz and viz the theory of evolution. If you are like me, growing up, you were pretty thoroughly inculcated to accept evolution as the only “reasonable” explanation for the origin of mankind, and to view the Christian story of Creation as a nice myth, now thoroughly debunked by science. The truth is really very different. I think, at the least, one may well find at this talk great evidence that the “conclusive evidence” supporting the theory of evolution has been greatly overblown, and that there are – at a minimum – enormous questions on the efficacy of this theory. You may well come away with a very different view of evolution, and greater appreciation for the story of our creation as told in Sacred Scripture.
Suffice it to say, acceptance of the Genesis story of Creation has tremendous impact on critical aspects of the Faith, such as Adam and Eve being real people who committed real, actual sin, thus necessitating Christ’s Incarnation, death, and Resurrection. I don’t know the content of Mr. Owen’s talk, but I can say that acceptance of evolution over Biblical Creation has helped precipitate the collapse of faith and morals in Western culture. There are many good reasons to doubt evolutionary theory, and even better ones to accept the true history of the biblical Creation narrative.
I have missed Mr. Owen’s talks before, but would really like to attend this one. God willing, I will see you there!
As a side note, Faithful Answers has some very good entries on creationism and evolution. I highly recommend it as another very helpful resource.
Blessed Event coming soon to near…….us! September 20, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Christendom, episcopate, fun, General Catholic, Glory, Grace, Latin Mass, Tradition, true leadership, Virtue.comments closed
Well, it’s not that far. Tulsa, to be precise. A Solemn Pontifical High Mass will be offered by His Excellency Bishop Edward Slattery on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2:00 pm at Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is the 96th anniversary of Our Lady’s Miracle of the Sun at Fatima. There will be a reception with food after the Mass, and after the reception a Marian devotions concert, Holy Rosary, and Marian hymns at 6:30 pm. Benediction will conclude these august festivities.
What a great blessing! This is the first Solemn Pontifical High Mass offered in Tulsa since before the Council, and probably the first in Oklahoma and dang near the entire Great Plains since then, too! So, it’s worth a drive (or flight) to assist at this Mass! I’m considering going, even though our life is crazy upside down right now!
You can get more information here:
God bless Bishop Slattery, a man who answers his own e-mails! And, without putting too fine a point on it, save for the sad removal of the altar rails and the jutting out of the table-altar and lectern 50 feet into the nave, this is what a cathedral should look like! At least they did not cut up the high altar and throw it away, like another Diocese I will not name, which starts with a D, and ends with an S, and……
I cannot think of a better way to celebrate the Year of Faith than with a most august offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! Wonderful!
Begin Novena to St. Michael today September 20, 2013
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Domestic Church, fun, General Catholic, Glory, Grace, Interior Life, Novenas, sanctity, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
That’s Friday, Sept. 20 2013. The Feast of St. Michael and the Holy Arcangels is Sept. 29. I got this Novena here.
Saint Michael the Archangel, loyal champion of God and His people, I turn to you with confidence and 
seek your powerful intercession.
For the love of God, Who made you so glorious in grace and power, and for the love of the Mother of Jesus, the Queen of the Angels, be pleased to hear my prayer.
You know the value of my soul in the eyes of God. May no stain of evil ever disfigure its beauty. Help me to conquer the evil spirit who tempts me. I desire to imitate your loyalty to God and Holy Mother Church and your great love for God and men. And since you are God’s messenger for the care of His people, I entrust to you this special request:
(Mention your request)
Saint Michael, since you are, by the Will of the Creator, the powerful intercessor of Christians, I have great confidence in your prayers. I earnestly trust that if it is God’s holy will my petition will be granted.
Pray for me, Saint Michael, and also for those I love. Protect us in all dangers of body and soul. Help us in our daily needs.
Through your powerful intercession, may we live a holy life, die a happy death, and reach heaven where we may praise and love God with you forever.
Amen.
In thanksgiving to God for the graces bestowed on St. Michael: one Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be.
The faithful who recite devoutly some prayers in honor of St. Michael with the intention of continuing the said prayers for nine consecutive days may gain: an indulgence of 5 years once each day; a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, at the end of their novena.
A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics 