Father Michael Rodriguez put on sabbatical November 11, 2014
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, disaster, episcopate, General Catholic, Holy suffering, Latin Mass, manhood, martyrdom, persecution, priests, sadness, scandals, secularism, Tradition, true leadership, Virtue.comments closed
I have to be very careful what I say, so bear with me. As of yesterday Monday Nov. 10 2014, Father Michael Rodriguez is no longer in active public ministry. He is on sabbatical. Sunday was his last Mass in Shafter. The several dozen souls in the desolate expanses of far West Texas who had prayed so fervently for so many years that they would finally have a good and holy traditional priest sent to them after many decades of being without one (within hundreds of miles) have been left spiritually fatherless again. As to how this sabbatical came about, I don’t think this is something Father asked for. Here is the information I have on the matter (I add some emphasis and comments):
As of yesterday, November 10, 2014, Fr. Michael Rodríguez, is no longer the Administrator of Sacred Heart Mission in Shafter, TX. He has been given a six-month sabbatical in order to discern God’s Will for the future. Fr. Rodríguez remains a priest in good-standing of the Diocese of El Paso. He will most likely be looking at options for priestly ministry beyond the Diocese of El Paso. Fr. Rodríguez has been offering the Traditional Latin Mass exclusively for the past three years, and this has led to increasing difficulties for him with the local hierarchy. Fr. Rodríguez asks for your prayers, and he especially asks you to pray for the small group of faithful (about 50) of the Presidio-Shafter area who are heartbroken over the loss of the Traditional Latin Mass and parish life based on the Traditional Latin Mass. [Once one becomes accustomed to the great Traditional Latin Mass and the whole traditional practice of the Faith, it is impossible to go back to what is offered in the vast majority of parishes today. This extends to an entire parish life that existed throughout the world as recently as 50 years ago but is now available only in precious, scattered pockets. Shafter was one of those. No more. I do not know how I would react should the TLM suddenly be revoked/removed from Dallas]
Admittedly, Fr. Rodríguez is in a very difficult situation. On the one hand, he intends to do his best to be obedient to his bishop. On the other hand, Fr. Rodríguez is convinced that God is calling him – through the Church – to dedicate his priesthood and all his energy and strength to promote the Church’s greatest treasures: her timeless liturgy and doctrine. Both Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have acknowledged that the Church is suffering through a terrible crisis of Faith in the post-Vatican II era, and Fr. Rodríguez, as a loyal priest and son of the Church, cannot stand idly by in the face of such widespread disparagement and abandonment of the Catholic Faith.
In making any decisions for the future, Fr. Rodríguez is begging God to purify his motives, so that he may act, first and foremost, out of love and fidelity to Jesus Christ and His holy Church, and for the salvation of souls. As a loyal son of Holy Mother Church, Fr. Rodríguez is 100% committed to following, teaching, promoting, and defending her Traditional Mass (holy liturgy) and her unchangeable truths (holy doctrine), e.g. the sacredness of marriage, the indissolubility of marriage, the grave sin and intrinsic evil of homosexual acts.
In closing, Fr. Rodríguez asks that efforts be redoubled to pray for the Holy Father so that he will consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as requested by Our Lady of Fatima. May the reign of Christ the King come through the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of His Mother!
In a few days a number of us will begin a continuous series of nine-day novenas imploring the intercession of Our Lady and the saints on Fr. Rodríguez’s behalf. I will email more information on that in a few days. Moreover, we will pray a 54-Day Rosary Novena on his behalf from Dec 10 – Feb 1, that is between the Marian feasts of the Immaculate Conception and the Purification of Our Lady, (also the feast of Our Lady of Good Success). We invite all to join us in offering these prayers. Thank you very much for your prayers and support.
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Please pray for Father Rodriguez. He is in a very difficult position. It may become more difficult. He will need immense spiritual support. I pray for him daily. Please, in your charity, try to keep him in your prayers, as well. Also pray for Bishop Seitz, who certainly has a great deal to say in this process, that he may have a great generosity for the kind of ministry Fr. Rodriguez offers and for the souls who crave it.
In addition, I will try to post reminders when these Novenas are distributed and scheduled to begin.
In light of this sad news, I re-post below JMJHF Productions latest video of Father’s Mass from Trinity Sunday:
The glory seen below in Shafter will be no more.
The great Saint Martin of Tours November 11, 2014
Posted by Tantumblogo in Art and Architecture, awesomeness, catachesis, Christendom, General Catholic, Glory, Grace, Liturgical Year, manhood, Saints, sanctity, Spiritual Warfare, Tradition, true leadership, Virtue.comments closed
I have mentioned I intended to try to start taking some of the slack from the defunct Ars Orandi site in posting material from Dom Prosper Gueranger’s The Liturgical Year. The problem is,I always forget to 
do so. But today, whether by Providence or by luck, I remembered.
Without further ado, excerpts from Gueranger’s section on the Saint, including a brief bio from the Roman Martyrology and Gueranger’s beautiful prayer to the Saint:
Martin was born at Sabaria in Pannonia. When ten years old he fled ot the church, against his parents’ will, and had himself enrolled among the catechumens. At the age of 15 he became a soldier, and 
served in the army first of Constantius and then of Julian the Apostate. On one occasion, when a poor naked man at Amiens begged an alms of him in the name of Christ, having nothing but his armor and clothing, he gave him half of his military cloak. The following night Christ appeared to him clad in that half-cloak, and said: “Martin, while yet a catechumen, has clothed Me with this garment.”
At eighteen years of age he was baptized; and abandoning his military career, betook himself to Hilary bishop of Poitiers, by whom he was made acolyte. Later on, having become bishop of Tours, he built a monastery, where he lived for some time in a most holy manner, in company with eighty monks. He was seized with a violent fever at Cande, a village in his diocese; and he earnestly besought God to free him from the prison of the body. His disciples hearing asked him: Father, why dost thou abandon us? or to whom dost thou leave us in our abjection? Martin, touched by their words, prayed to God in this manner: O Lord, if I am still necessary to thy people, do not refuse the labor.
When his disciples saw him praying in the height of the fever, lying on his back, they besought him to turn over for a little while, that he might get some rest and relief. But Martin answered: Suffer me to gaze on Heaven rather than earth, that my spirit, which is about to depart, may be directed on its way to our Lord. As death drew nigh, he saw the enemy of mankind, and exclaimed: What art thou 
doing here, thou cruel beast? Thous wilt find no evil in me. While uttering these words he gave up his soul to God, at the age of 81. he was received by a choir of angels, whom many, and in particular Saint Severinus, bishop of Cologne, heard singing the praises of God.
Now for portions of the prayer:
O holy Martin, have compassion on our depth of misery! A winter more severe than that which caused thee to divide thy cloak now rages over the world; many perish in the icy night brought on by the extinction of faith and the cooling of charity. Come to the aid of those unfortunate souls whose torpor prevents them from asking assistance. Wait not for them to pray; but forestall them for the love of Christ in whose name the poor man of Amiens implored thee, whereas they scarcely know how to utter it. And yet their nakedness is worse than the beggar’s, stripped as they are of the garment of Grace, which their fathers received from thee and handed down to posterity.
How lamentable, above all, has become the destitution of France, which thou didst once enrich with the blessings of Heaven, and where thy benefits have been requited with such injuries!…….Look upon the piety of those grand Christians whose hearts were able, like the generosity of the multitude, to rise to the height of the greatest projects; see the pilgrims, however reduced their numbers, now taking once
Basilica in the Philippines
more the road to Tours, traversed so often by people and kings in better days of our history.
Has that history of the brightest days of the Church, of the reign of Christ as King, come to an end, O Martin? Let the enemy imagine he has already sealed our tomb: but the story of thy miracles tells us that thou canst raise up even the dead. Was not the catechumen of Liguge’ snatched from the land of the living, when thou didst call him back to life and baptism? Supposing that, like him, we were already among those whom the Lord remembereth no more, the man or the country that has Martin for protector and father need never yield to despair. If thou deign to bear us in mind, the angels will come and say again to the supreme Judge: ‘This is the man, this is the nation, for whom Martin prays,’ and they will be commanded to draw us out of the dark regions where dwell the people without glory, and to restore us to Martin, and to our noble destinies.
Thy zeal, however, for the advancement of God’s kingdom knew no limits. Inspire, then, strengthen, and multiply the apostles all over the world, who. like thee, are driving out the forces of infidelity. Restore Christian Europe, which still honors thy name, to the unity so unhappily dissolved by schism and heresy. In spite of the many efforts to the contrary, maintain thy noble fatherland in its post of honor, and in its traditions of brave fidelity, even though it now be so sadly fallen. May thy devout clients in all lands experience that thy right arm still suffices to protect those who implore thee.
Saint Martin of Tours, Taal City Luzon Philippines
Prayer of a Sinner to Our Lady of Ransom November 11, 2014
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, catachesis, General Catholic, Glory, Grace, Interior Life, Our Lady, Saints, sanctity, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
Taken from the Glories of Mary by that incredible Saint, Alphonsus Maria de Liguori:
O my Sovereign Queen and worthy Mother of my God, most Holy Mary: I, seeing myself, as I do, so despicable, and loaded with so many sins, ought not to presume to call thee Mother, or even to approach thee; yet I will not allow my miseries to deprive me of the consolation and confidence that I feel in calling thee Mother; I know well that I deserve that thou shouldst reject me; but I beseech thee to remember all that thy Son Jesus has endured for me, and then reject me if thou canst. I am a wretched sinner, who, more than all others, have despised the infinite majesty of God; but the evil is done. To thee have I recourse; thou canst help me: my Mother, help me! Say not that thou canst not do so; for I know that thou art all powerful, and that thou obtainest whatever thou desirest of God; and if thou sayest that thou wilt not help me, tell me at least to whom I can apply in this my so great misfortune. Either pity me, or I will say, with the devout Saint Anselm, “O, my Jesus, forgive me, or do thou pity me, my Mother Mary, by whom I can have recourse, who is more compassionate, or in whom I can have greater confidence than in thee?” Oh, no; neither on earth, nor in Heaven, can I find anyone who has more compassion for the miserable, or who is better able to assist me, than thou canst, O Mary. Thou, O Jesus, art my Father, and thou, Mary, art my Mother. You both love the most miserable, and go seeking them in order to save them. I deserve hell and am the most miserable of all. But you need not seek me, nor do I presume to ask so much. I now present myself before you with a certain hope that I shall not be abandoned. Behold me at your feet; my Jesus, forgive me; my Mother Mary, help me!
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Sometimes……or often…….I feel too weak in the Faith. I know Our Lord Jesus Christ is my Savior, but I also know that he is my Judge. And a dread Judge at that. But with Our Lady, there is not the same 
sense of judgment. She can be turned to as our constant advocate and friend. Not that Our Blessed Lord is not…….I don’t know, I just feel an immense closeness to Our Lady, I feel very comfortable in approaching her, while at times I feel a bit of trepidation in turning to the Second Person of the Trinity in quite the same way. As I said, I am weak in faith, please pray for me.
Perhaps it’s sort of like the natural ordering of parents: most mothers are the warm and gentle caregivers while it falls to the fathers to be a bit more distant and disciplinarian – at least in those few families that are still intact in sense God intended. Do you understand what I’m saying? Anyone else feel the same way? Our Lady has made so plain so many times how she longs to be our advocate if we will only allow her. Our Lord of course loved us so much that He willed to become man and die for us, He encourages us to approach and rest in His Sacred Heart. It is just that in my sinfulness I feel I am unworthy of doing so, which is a sin of pride.
At any rate I do so love the Blessed Mother, as a former protestant, it is inconceivable to me that I spent most of my life both ignorant of her critical role in the plan of salvation and even besmirching her true and glorious nature. I will never do that again, and will dedicate my efforts to extolling Our Lady to all I encounter! M
My Lady, have mercy on me! Pray for me!
A helpful exhortation from Leo XIII for our time November 11, 2014
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, General Catholic, Glory, Grace, history, paganism, Papa, persecution, sanctity, scandals, secularism, self-serving, sickness, Society, Tradition, true leadership, Virtue.comments closed
I must say, the more I read of this great pope, the more I admire him, and the more I wonder why he seems to have no cause for his canonization at all. He was a long serving pope in a most difficult time and he upheld the Faith with immense clarity and forcefulness, as indicated below, from Fr. O’Reilly’s biography on this saintly man:
…….to every deputation which met him he repeated his courageous words of advice and exhortation. “The days of trial had come for them all; they must take their share in the general persecution, and not refuse to suffer for truth and for Christ.”
A brief statement, to be sure, but one so appropriate to our own time. Pope Leo probably suspected – or knew – that a time would soon come when the Church would war with herself, when the immaculate Bride of Christ would be filled with unworthy and disobedient men. The first outbreak of modernism was well underway during his pontificate. But I wonder if even this brilliant pope could fathom the extent to which souls would fall away from that Truth to which we must cling, and replace love for Christ with love for something else?
Then again, for those with eyes to see, even an early 18th century priest, the inevitable path the Western Civilization has trod since the vast majority of its elites deliberately decided to reject Christianity in general and the Church in particular has been completely clear, and they would probably not be surprised at all to find the depths to which we have sunk. No matter, that is our reality, and we must decide how to deal with it.
I choose to fight.
Will US bishops follow directives of Our Lady of the Americas at their annual meeting in Baltimore this week? November 11, 2014
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, episcopate, General Catholic, Grace, Our Lady, priests, sanctity, secularism, Society, true leadership, Virtue.comments closed
I must admit, I am not very familiar with either the nature of the revelations discussed below, nor of what exactly Our Lady is purported to have directed be done. I do know that a good priest, Fr. Richard Heilman of the Diocese of Madison, WI, had the following to say on Facebook regarding this matter:
Pleeeaaase pray that our bishops process the statue of Our Lady of America into National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. to fulfill Our Lady’s request. The desire of the promoters of the devotion, including several bishops, is to use the scheduled adoration time on Thursday, November 13th, and have the bishops make the short trip to the shrine to fulfill Our Lady’s request.
Our Lady promised that if the Bishops did so, great graces would pour forth and …that greater miracles than those granted at Lourdes and Fatima, miracles not of the body but of the soul, would be granted here in America, the United States in particular, if we would do as she desires. These graces would help bring about the era of peace that she promised at Fatima. However, failure to do so would lead us to terrible suffering and punishment for the world.Our Lady of America, pray for us!!
Patrick Archbold has an article explaining more. It appears Cardinal Burke, while still in Saint Louis, gave a positive assessment of the apparitions and recommended the directions of Our Lady be observed by the bishops of the United States:
As the Bishops of the United States gather in Baltimore this week for their fall meeting, the family and the recent Synod on the Family are forefront in many bishops’ minds……
…….Our Lady’s messages to Sister Mary Ephrem Neuzil have been approved by and promoted by several bishops. For further information, none other than Raymond Cardinal Burke has investigated these apparitions and submitted a positive written report on the matter to his fellow bishops in 2007.
In her messages to Sister, Our Lady called for all of us to exercise the virtue of purity, particularly within the family. She asked that a statue be created of her likeness under the title of Our Lady of America. Further, she asked that the Bishops of the United States solemnly process her statue into the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. as she wishes to be honored there in a special way as Our Lady of America, the Immaculate Virgin.
Our Lady promised that if the Bishops did so, great graces would pour forth and that greater miracles than those granted at Lourdes and Fatima, miracles not of the body but of the soul, would be granted here in America, the United States in particular, if we would do as she desires. These graces would help bring about the era of peace that she promised at Fatima. However, failure to do so would lead us to terrible suffering and punishment for the world. [There is much more information on all this here]
So it is there is a movement underway to use the occasion of this fall’s Bishops meeting in Baltimore, just miles away from the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. to fulfill Our Lady’s request. The desire of the promoters of the devotion, including several bishops, is to use the scheduled adoration time on Thursday, November 13th, and have the bishops make the short trip to the shrine to fulfill Our Lady’s request. [Pardon my skepticism. See below]
At a time when purity and the family is under attack from both outside and inside the Church, I cannot think of a better time to fulfill Our Lady’s request. What a wonderful declaration of love for Our Lady and a declaration of the need for purity and sanctification of the family this would be.
Many of the Bishops are already familiar with the devotion because of Cardinal Burke’s letter in 2007 and I understand that there are several bishops who are very desirous to see this happen. Yet, unsurprisingly, there are difficulties as well. Some bishops are unfamiliar or unconvinced of Our Lady’s request. Also unsurprisingly, there are some bishops who are opposed to any private revelation as they consider it peasant mumbo jumbo. And of course, there are the real logistical difficulties of a pre-arranged schedule for the conference.
To say the least. These events are carefully scripted and the participants rarely enjoy unplanned deviations from the script. Even more, I would imagine Mr. Archbold, surely in charity, downplayed the opposition to this revelation. I really am not very familiar with the revelation and how well supported the claims of the nun are, but even if it were very well supported we have seen a similar directive from Our Lady, one associated with quite possibly the greatest miracle worked since Apostolic times, ignored or at least doubtfully fulfilled by the bishops of the world for nearly a century. I refer of course to Our Lady of Fatima and her directive that Russia be formally consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart by the Pope in union with all the bishops of the world, something that many faithful souls feel has still not been properly accomplished. So long as Fatima remains unfulfilled, forgive my skepticism with respect to this American directive from Our Lady.
Nonetheless, I do pray all the valid requests/demands of Our Lady are fulfilled immediately. I would certainly love to see all the bishops of the United States processing behind a statue of Our Lady, that is for certain.
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