For your Easter entertainment April 25, 2014
Posted by Tantumblogo in Admin, awesomeness, Basics, fun, General Catholic, Latin Mass.comments closed
No Flightline Friday this week, I don’t think I have the time. But for your Easter entertainment, some renditions of that glorious hymn we’ve been hearing all week at Mass.
The first one is a plainchant version from Corpus Christi Watershed:
The second is a bit more ornate and symphonic. OK, a lot more:
OK, one more, a bit of a more Medieval setting:
Have a blessed conclusion to your Easter Week! And don’t forget about the Low and Quasimodo in your Divine Mercy Sunday!
Beautiful prayer for before Mass or at the Canon April 25, 2014
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Eucharist, General Catholic, Glory, Grace, Interior Life, Latin Mass, Liturgy, sanctity, Spiritual Warfare, Victory, Virtue.comments closed
I’m winding up the von Cochem book on the Mass, but I wanted to share this beautiful prayer which can be offered prior to Mass or during the Canon:
The nearer the solemn moment approaches, my God, when Thy only begotten Son in His divinity and humanity becomes present upon this altar under the form of bread and wine, the deeper is the awe and reverence I feel. 
Following the example of the priest, I enter into myself, and in silent supplication lay before Thee my desires and my necessities.
By the infinite merits of this Thy Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, we beseech Thee, O merciful Father, look down upon Thy Holy Church, protect her, extend her, govern her; bless and guide her visible head, our Holy Father the Pope, our prelate, and all her faithful children. Have mercy upon all our parents and friends, all for whom it is our desire or our duty to pray, especially NN….Keep all evil far from us, preserve in us all that is good, and, above all, grant to us Thy blessing and Thy love, and Grace to persevere unto the end.
Be mindful, O Lord, of the bitter sufferings and death of Thy Son, Our Lord, of the merits and virtues of the Blessed Virgin, of the Holy Apostles and Martyrs and other Saints, who during their earthly pilgrimage served Thee faithfully and found favor in Thy sight. All these, our brethren in glory, now plead on our behalf. Grant that by their intercession and the power of Christ’s Precious Blood we may be delivered from eternal damnation and admitted to the company of the elect in Heaven. The same Savior Who redeemed them and purchased for them everlasting felicity shed His Blood for us also. The Sacrifice of Atonement once offered on Calvary is now about to be renewed in an unbloody manner upon the alter in our sight. Look down, O Heavenly Father, upon the face of Thy Christ, upon His Wounds and Precious Blood, and grant us help in time of need.
————End Quote———–
Quick note: you know you can eat meat today, and do not have to fast or abstain. We are in the Octave of Easter and each day counts as a highest holy day, the same as Easter Day itself. So no fasting! Enjoy this great Feast!
Bible verses that support chastity after marriage April 25, 2014
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Bible, catachesis, General Catholic, Glory, Grace, Interior Life, sanctity, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
A commenter left a comment yesterday that really touched me, describing how she had suffered to leave a second marriage that was not in consonance with the Canon or Moral Law (that is not a direct quote, but that is what I took from the comment). I still do not have the words to express my admiration at such great depth of faith. People who make the choice to follow Church Law after a marriage ends in divorce are to be so highly commended. I was inspired by what I read yesterday.
To help people whose marriages end in divorce or through death, I thought I would point out a few Bible verses that speak to the value to remaining chaste and celibate after one’s marriage ends.
There is an entire book of the Bible that centers on a widowed woman, the Book of Judith. I especially recommend the Canticle of Judith, Judith Chapter 16. Throughout that chapter but especially towards the end, Judith’s voluntary acceptance of a life of chastity, eschewing many offers for marriage (for she was a beautiful and wealthy woman) for the greater glory of God, is constantly extolled. Due to her perfection in virtue, she was chosen by God to be a savior of her people, defeating the evil Assyrian general Holofernes and preventing the annihilation of the state of Judah.
Another valuable verse, which also is so vital in the tragic “debate” taking place in the Church on how to deal with those who divorce and remarry, is St. Matthew Chapter 19, verses 1-12. This is where Christ plainly states that divorce and remarriage is a sin (so long as the original marriage was valid), but He also states, in verses 11-12:
Who said to them: All men take not this word, but they to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother’ s womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it.
This applies to those who voluntary choose celibacy for life, and those who choose it after their marriage ends. Let he that can take it, take it.
Another verse that supports celibacy in widowhood (or, though it was not so common then, after divorce) is 1 Timothy 5 3-7:
Honor widows, that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children, or grandchildren, let her learn first to govern her own house, and to make a return of duty to her parents: for this is acceptable before God. But she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, let her trust in God, and continue in supplications and prayers night and day.
For she that liveth in pleasures, is dead while she is living. And this give in charge, that they may be blameless.
The notes for the Haydock Study Bible, for Judith XVI:31, claim that Judith was a widow indeed, as St. Paul relates above. That is, she is the perfect model of widowhood, chaste, living deep in prayer before the Lord, offering her life for the glorification of God and of His Church.
I pray you find these useful! If you have more suggestions, please make them.
Matt: Secular press using JPII canonization to attack Church April 25, 2014
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, catachesis, disconcerting, episcopate, error, foolishness, General Catholic, Papa, pr stunts, Saints, scandals, the return.comments closed
Michael Matt has been sounding the alarm about the upcoming canonizations of JPII and John XXIII, saying that the secular press, which has been a fair part of the drumbeat for canonization, is already starting to turn on those they previously venerated, and is going to use these canonizations to attack the Church over the priest-boy rape scandal.
He quotes some articles that have already appeared. The secular press is now asking how can JPII be canonized when he apparently failed to deal with the abuse crisis? The Vatican response…….well, it’s rather amazing. I’ll get to that in a moment. First, the video, which is, I think, not overly excitable and mostly concerned not with trad prerogatives but with the damage that may occur to the Church at large as a result of this seeming rush to canonize:
That Lombardi quote is a stunner: “Sainthood isn’t a judgment on a pontificate, or even an evaluation on someone’s perfection in life. The important thing is that the intentions were upright, and that there was respect!”
So, apparently, this canonization is not so much about a particularly effective pontificate, or even personal holiness, but is about popularity and intentions? That’s what I take away from that incredible quote.
You know – and this comment is not directed at JPII, it is directed at Fr. Lombardi – it is amazing that intentions are now being trotted out as a sufficient cause for canonization! I am praying that is just Fr. Lombardi’s ludicrous, off the cuff remark, and not some considered talking point coming down from higher levels.
I think Matt is probably spot on in his concern that the media, having helped goad these canonizations forward, is now going to use them to attack the Church. We will see lots of very difficult, essentially unanswerable questions – how could the Church canonize a man who……blank? I think Matt may be overstating the impact of this negative coverage – he seems to think it’s going to blow up into a huge scandal that is going to severely wound the Church. I think it may be more of a short term black eye. It could be Matt is just casting about for excuses to oppose canonizations he probably has never been terribly positive about. But it does look like some negative coverage is already developing.
What say you? Will this be tempest in a teapot, black eye, or have the potential to severely wound the Church?
I don’t see how it’s possible to derail these canonizations, now so near. As Matt says, short of an act of God, they are going to happen. So I’m not sure what getting “neo-Catholics” on board is going to do, at this point. I guess for team spirit, or whatever.
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