jump to navigation

The glory of the Suscipe, Sancte Pater November 14, 2013

Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, General Catholic, Glory, Grace, Interior Life, Latin Mass, Liturgy, scandals, secularism, Tradition, Virtue.
comments closed

The Suscipe is a glorious prayer from the Traditional Mass that has no real “replacement” in the Novus Ordo.  That is to say, it was obliterated, done away with.  And it’s such a glorious prayer!  It says what so desperately needs to be said by fallen, sinful men to our infinitely beautiful and perfect God.  Below, the Suscipe Sancte Pater with some commentary from the inestimable Fr. Nicholas Gihr:

Accept, O holy Father, Al- 
mighty and eternal God, this 
unspotted Host, which I Thy Gold_Canon of the Mass
unworthy servant offer unto Thee, 
my living and true God, for my 
innumerable sins, offences and 
negligences and for all here pres- 
ent; as also for all faithful Chris- 
tians, both living and dead, that 
it may avail both me and them 
for salvation unto life everlasting. 
Amen. 

This prayer, which is as terse in composition as it is rich in thought, affords an answer to various questions that may be asked with regard to the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Who is to receive and accept the Host?- “The holy Father, the Almighty, eternal God.”  The Church in the Mass generally addresses herself to God the Father, in order to unite herself to the Saviour, who on the altar offers Himself to His heavenly Father. In the full and complete sense God alone deserves the name of Father, as Christ says: “Call none your father upon earth; for one is your Father, who is in heaven” (Matt. 23, 9). Yes, God is our Father; we are and we are called His children. Through His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, He has conferred upon us the dignity as well as the goods and privileges of children of God. What love has He not thereby shown us! God is not merely the best and the most liberal of fathers, but He is also the infinitely “holy Father”. Thus does the Saviour call Him in His sacrificial prayer as Highpriest (John 17, u). Therefore, as His children, it is incumbent on us to be, after the Saviour’s example, holy in all our conduct; for we should be perfect as is our Father in heaven (Matt. 5, 48). God, whom we may with confidence call our Father, is, moreover, the “Almighty, eternal God,” to whom, on account of His majesty and glory, the sacrifice of the most profound reverence and humble subjection is due; finally, He is the “living and the true God,” to whom alone sacrifice may and should be offered. In the liturgy the Lord is often designated as the living and true God, in contradistinction to the inanimate and false gods, which are vain, powerless and full of deception. The priest offers to the “living and true God,” who created heaven and earth. The “living” God is life itself, the eternal and uncreated life, the source of all life: because from Him proceeds both natural and super- natural life, the life of grace and glory in the world of angels and of men. In God and from God all things live and move; out of Him there is but death. The “true” God is truth itself, the primordial and purest truth, the fountain-head of all truth. St. John writes: “We know that the Son of God is come, and has given us understanding that we may know the true God, and may be in His true Son. This (Christ) is the true Son of God and life eternal. Little children keep yourselves from idols” (i John 5, 20 21).

———-End Quote———

What a beautiful prayer!  What a treasure of meaning and composition! How could it have been removed?  That is heartbreaking.

Josaphat_Basilica (1)

French Carmel with young vocations returns to Traditional Liturgy full time November 14, 2013

Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, General Catholic, Glory, Grace, Holy suffering, Latin Mass, Liturgy, religious, sanctity, Spiritual Warfare, Tradition, true leadership, Virtue.
comments closed

Yay!  This is awesome!  I tried to better pic than the one here, but Carmelites are pretty shy about having their photos taken.  But great news, another growing Carmel!

The Carmel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and the Immaculate Conception in Alençon returned to the Immemorial Rite of the Catholic Church.

Already in 2008 the Carmelites made the first step in the direction of traditional liturgy. “We prefer the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite” which the newspaper La Nef reported in 2010 on the religious. The Holy Mass on Sundays and public holidays has therefore celebrated in the traditional form of the Roman Rite for several years. The Holy Mass on weekdays initially remained the ordinary form. Now Bishop Jacques Habert Sées has allowed the complete return to the Immemorial Rite. The Holy Mass will be celebrated in the Old Rite on Sundays and holidays at 9 clock and on all working days at 8 clock in the Carmel. The Chaplain of the monastery is a diocesan priest, assisted by priests of the Fraternity of St. Peter.

The Carmel was founded in 1988 at the request of Bishop François-Marie Tregaro Sées. A first Carmel had already existed in Alençon 1780-1792. It was abolished during the French Revolution, however, which is why the bishop has sought re-foundation. When Pope Benedict XVI. issued the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontiicum in 2007, the sisters were soon agreed to return to the Old Rite. The nuns devote six to seven hours a day in choral prayer.

I have seen this more and more. So many religious communities (and individual souls) with little to no prior experience of the traditional liturgy become exposed to it, and quickly find that is all they want.  It rarely if ever works in the other direction. I think that is more than a little significant.  Such occurred with a pretty large order, the Franciscans of the Immaculate, with many young vocations who had never known the traditional liturgy or the traditional practice of the Faith becoming enraptured with it after coming to know those treasures, and finding that they HAD to have more.  As it stands, the vast majority of the FFIs would like to have an order – a new one, if necessary – dedicated to the traditional practice of the Faith. I pray the Holy Father accedes to their request, that would be a profound work of mercy.

Some scenes from another Carmel in Normandy from long ago:

thCAM4D3I7

 

carmel_st_therese

Dumbstruck Congregation Listens in Awe as “Judgmental” Pastor Delivers Sound Homily November 14, 2013

Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, fun, General Catholic, sadness, scandals, secularism, self-serving, silliness, Society, true.
comments closed

How could he!  What’s wrong with this priest!  Doesn’t he know “judging” is the only sin in the universe! How could he actually make people feel bad!  They had to have a double decaf soy latte after Mass just to recover!

Eye of the Tiber strikes again:

Listening in shock and horror as a visiting priest delivered what many believed to be a judgmental homily earlier this morning, many parishioners at Sacred Heard Catholic Church in Encinitas, California, were traumatized after listening to what some called “the most sound homily they had ever heard.” “It was disgusting,” one parishioner, Debbie Locke, told EOTT. “This is a Church for goodness sakes.” Others also voiced their concerns saying that such filth should never be spoken anywhere, let alone in a church. “This is the house of God!” parishioner Bob Woodward said. “Is there no place left in the world where we can avoid hatred, injustice, judgment, and sound Catholic doctrine!” According to Woodward, a world that “did not allow for a women’s right to choose, or for two men to love one another” was not a world deserving of the King of Kings. The baffled and furious parishioner went on to explain how he was forced to flee Denver years ago after noticing a more prevalent and uncomfortable trend of sound homilies coming from several pulpits around the diocese. “The Bishop was doing nothing about it, so I fled with my family from Denver so that we could get away from that kind of critical and unwelcoming attitude. I chose to flee so that my Catholic children could grow up in a world that is accepting of all things…even if they’re not even remotely close to being in the same vicinity of being in line with Catholic teaching.”

And even if those children subsequently left the Church they never really knew, never to return.

Check out Eye of the Tiber from time to time to lighten things up.  It’s consistently hilarious.

Here’s another great one: “Man Dressed As Tabernacle At Halloween Party Ignored; Is Moved To Corner Of Room.”

 

Michael Voris takes on Bishop Robert Lynch November 14, 2013

Posted by Tantumblogo in asshatery, Basics, disaster, error, foolishness, General Catholic, horror, Papa, persecution, scandals, secularism, self-serving, sexual depravity, shocking, Voris.
Tags:
comments closed

I don’t think it unfair to say that Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, FL, is one of the more openly liberal bishops in the country.  He has previously attacked pro-lifers as hypocritical and savaged any who would dare to point out the grave scandals ongoing at Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities, and CCHD.  I did a post on Bishop Lynch and his progressive antics 3 months ago.  Now Michael Voris is reporting on still more scandals, including some which I did not know before, regarding payoffs to dismiss sexual harassment suits made by men, and allegations of a possible ongoing relationship with a contractor who has gotten fat contracts from the Diocese:

“reflect on their commitment of time and services to social services.”  Certainly, an important consideration, but one that should pale in comparison to the duty we have to render proper worship and honor to God for His own sake and for the sanctification and salvation of our souls.

If you want to see what kind of creature Bishop Lynch is, read this.  A quote:

“Bishop Lynch accelerated the rate of “modernization” of the Diocese of St. Petersburg. Traditional Catholics report that he radically reduced the practice of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in local parishes and he enthusiastically promoted sex instruction in Catholic schools. He permitted the continuance of Dignity-like Masses for homosexuals and welcomed New Ways Ministry into the diocese.”  [New Ways Ministry has been specifically condemned by the Vatican for heretical pro-homosexual propagandizing and ordered to disband, although there has been no disciplinary follow-up.]

Much more here.

There is no reason for a bishop, for an inheritor of the mantle of the Apostles, to live so lavishly. It is difficult to see how vacations in Bermuda and other posh spots correlates with the kind of evangelical poverty lived by the Apostles.  The great Saint and Bishop Charles Borromeo kept himself constantly poor, to the point of giving away his own furniture, to help plague victims in Milan.  And yet with all the reports of lavish living and rules-violating no-bid contracts, it takes great temerity for Bishop Lynch to lecture pro-lifers about the amount of consideration they have for “social services.”  Is there any more typically elitist liberal attitude than this?

Bishop Robert Lynch is a protege’, along with Cardinal Roger Mahony, of Cardinal Bernadin, he who had the Chicago “Gay” Men’s Chorus sing at his wake as a sort of final parting shot to the faithful. I pray……I PRAY…..these men are wrong in their exuberance over Pope Francis.  Bishop Lynch points to all that is so very wrong with the American episcopate, especially that part derived from the McCarrick-Bernadin cadre. It seems so very far removed from the example of the great Saints and Apostles who preceded them.

Pope Francis embraces “hermeneutic of continuity?” November 14, 2013

Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, episcopate, General Catholic, Grace, Papa, Society, true leadership, Virtue.
comments closed

All the below is via Rorate, and before them via Sandro Magister.  Apparently, Pope Francis sent a letter to Bishop Marchetto, a former curial official.  He has authored a book that advocates for Pope Benedict’s “hermeneutic of reform in continuity” entitled The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council: A counterpoint for the history of the Council, which I have never read but is claimed to take a fairly traditional view of the Council and criticizes the progressive interpretation and implementation of Vatican II.

Pope Francis sent Bishop Marchetto a letter that not only calls Bishop Marchetto the “best interpreter” of Vatican II (would it not be preferable had the Council had the precision of a Trent or Vatican I where there was NO interpretation, because it’s meaning was crystalline?) but also thanks the bishop for correcting the Pope on some point.  The letter is below:

Dear Abp. Marchetto,

 

With these lines I wish to be close to you and join myself to the act of presentation of the book “Primato pontificio ed episcopato. Dal primo millennio al Concilio ecumenico Vaticano II” [Pontifical primacy and epicopate: from the first millennium to the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council”] I beg you to consider myself spiritually present [there].

 

The topic of the book is an homage to the love that you have for the Church, a loyal and at the same time poetic love. Loyalty and poetry are not an object of trade: they cannot be bought or sold, they simply are virtues that are rooted in a heart of a son who feels the Church to be a Mother; or, in order to be more precise, and saying it with an Ignatian familiar “tone”, as “the Holy Mother Hierarchical Church”.  

 

You have made this love manifest in many ways, including correcting a mistake or imprecision on my part – and for that I thank you from my heart -, but above all it is manifest in all your purity in the studies made on the Second Vatican Council. I once told you, dear Abp. Marchetto, and I wish to repeat it today, that I consider you to be the best interpreter of the Second Vatican Council.  

 

I know that this is a gift from God, but I also know that you made it bear fruit. I am grateful to you for all the good that you do for us with your testimony of love for the Church, and I ask the Lord that you be abundantly blessed.

 

I beg you please not to forget to pray for me. May Jesus bless you, and may the Virgin protect you.

 

Vatican, October 7, 2013
Fraternally,
Francis
Very interesting.  And perhaps very reassuring. We certainly seem to get widely variant presentations, if you will, of who Pope Francis is and what he believes, sometimes, I must say, even from the Pope himself.  There are denunciations of Pelagian restorationists but then there is more talk of satan than we’ve heard from a Pontiff in decades.  The rhetoric and emphases vary widely depending on who the audience of the moment is.  It could be that Pope Francis is an incredibly complex man with a deep but very subtle theology, or  there are other, less flattering interpretations of this conduct.
It is quite possible we still have not seen the “real” Pope Francis.  There has been much talk and some background work, but very little in the way of notably public changes or initiatives.  Have things slowed down?   I suppose we’ll know much more this time next year.  In the meantime, I will pray.  Prayer can move mountains, and men’s souls.  Prayer certainly moved mine. Pray for the Pope every day!