The mass was concelebrated. Racado counted sixteen priests in the sanctuary, which was not too bad considering the general collapse in recruitment. He was interiorly amused: one single mass instead of sixteen - they were certainly on a good path...
Jean Raspail
Sire
Raspail punctuates his fictional account of an adventure involving the heir to the throne in contemporary France with several observations on the state of the Church of our age - including the breathtaking absurdity of widespread concelebrations, particularly in religious houses.
If you wish to share any titles with us, in any language, regarding anything at all, including classics or new releases, please do so in the comment box - please do not mention again those you have already mentioned here in the past.
31 comments:
The Mass and the Saints is indispensable if you want to truly know the praxis around which the Saints understood the Mass before the Novus Ordo took effect in 1970.
Is concelebration really that absurd?
Marcel Lefebvre: the Biography
Its a good read and very well written whether one supports the Archbishop or not, surprisingly close to 3/4 of the book is about his life prior to founding the SSPX. The sections on his ministry in Africa are particularly interesting.
"The Martyrs of The Coliseum"
by A.J. O'Reilly
"The Devotion to the Sacred Heart"
Father Jean Croiset, S.J., St. Margaret Mary Alacoque's spiritual director.
I have heard of Sire. Is it available in English? Je ne parle pas bien du Francais.
The Liturgical Year
Abbot Gueranger
NTS: I'm posting this as a means to spur me to keeping a resolution to start reading this!!!
My Priestly brother-in-law gave us the complete set published by Marion House for a wedding gift.
'Why the Cross?' - Fr. Edward Leen; an excellent book on the true Catholic meaning of suffering.
'Come rack! Come rope!' - Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson; a historical novel about the persecution of Roman Catholic priests during the Reformation.
'This Tremendous Lover' - Fr. Boylan; a beautiful synopsis of the Catholic Faith in one book.
Enjoy!
The Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson.
Banished Heart: Origins of Heteropraxis in the Catholic Church
http://www.amazon.com/Banished-Heart-Heteropraxis-Catholic-Fundamental/dp/0567442209/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328214672&sr=1-1
One of the greatest books that I have ever read! It shows us that Rome many a time overstepped its boundaries by interfering in local rites BOTH Western and Eastern... It is quite sad to read sometimes. BUT it must spur us not to want ABSOLUTE uniformity but that the ANCIENT rites and usages of the church should be encouraged and reestablished wherever possible.
Dear Woody,
I think it is not available in English, unfortunately. But a deep knowledge of French is not at all necessary for reading it with pleasure.
Best regards,
NC
Seconding Picard, if anyone likes didactic eschatological Catholic fiction, Benson's Lord of the World is actually pretty good. Not excellent, but--since it was predicting the century's evils rather than recounting them--it was better than Father Elijah, a late 20th-century imitation of it I just finished. Better written, too.
"The life of (Ven.) Leon Papin-Dupont: the Holy Man of Tours"
by Edward Healy Thompson
A fantastic read about a man who was touched and touch the lives of so many Saints in France in the 19th Century.
Availible for free on Archive here: http://www.archive.org/details/thelifeoflaeonpa00leonuoft
(might still be in copyright in England)
"Three to Get Married"
Abp. Fulton J. Sheen
Believe it or not I have heard very good things about a book penned by Cardinal Suenans, one of the liberals at VII, called "Mary Mother of God", apparently he had a deep devotion to our Blessed Mother.
I just ordered it.
It is printed by Hawthorne Books 1959.
Wow. You'll allow comments recommending a book by a Modernist like Suenens, but you won't allow a recommendation for Open Letter to Confused Catholics.
Incredible. This blog is really going down.
We let your comment go through, though, to show how we have to deal daily with ill-intentioned commentators filled with malice that simply cannot come from the Lord. At least not from the Lord of Hosts.
You were obviously the one responsible for that comment - but, since you brought it up, I can tell our readers: it did not merely recommend that book, it said that it was being recommended now because we were "pandering" to "the lowest denominator". Do you really think that the comment was blocked because of the book? Or because you offended the bloggers and all commentators in one fell swoop?
We do not have to put up with this. This is not a matter for us: it is obviously a matter between you and your confessor. Deception, hatred, utter disregard for your brethren in Christ: these are matters for you and your priest. And you still have the gall to come here and make jokes, wasting our time, our patience, and leading us close to sin ourselves?
Perhaps the best solution to this is simply to close all future posts for comments. If Catholics cannot behave with love, respect, and truthfulness in regard for all their brethren, then perhaps the time is fast coming for us to close this mode of participation for good.
NC
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. While praying one morning I was told to be more like Jesus. I could think of no better way to learn than to read The Imitation of Christ.
New Catholic et al,
You are all doing really good, un heralded, work here!
Personally, I think you should start advertising; why not?!
Irregardless, keep driving and striving, because this is one of the better blogs out there!
I suggest two new french titles:
- “Dialogues du Pavillon Bleu”, from the great Jean Madiran. The book is praised in this way:
Madiran s'essaie à un genre nouveau et c'est pour le moins réussi ! Quelques personnages représentants chacun une tendance religieuse se réunissent amicalement pour échanger leur point de vue : fraternité Saint Pierre, fraternité Saint Pie X, conservateur... Ces « dialogues » qui risquent de faire grincer des dents à le grand mérite de faire réfléchir sur ses propres positions d'abord mais aussi sur celles de l'autre. Et s'ils ne vous comblent pas dans vos interrogations religieuses, ils sauront vous découvrir davantage la nature humaine.
It seems, it looks a little like Rorate’s comment boxes… :-)
- “La Messe. Une forêt de symbols”, the new book from the well known french traditionalist priest Father Claude Barthe.
I can't remember if I posted this one before. I may have and if so, then my apologies. "In this house of Brede" by Rumer Godden is about a monastery of Benedictine nuns.
Although the book is fiction, there is an interesting indirect reference to Vatican II.
The model for Brede Abbey was Stanbrook Abbey in North Yorkshire.
Read about it here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanbrook_Abbey
Anything by Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange.
And thank you NC and company for this blog and all your efforts. I know it seems like a thankless job sometimes but you are appreciated.
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, "Revolution and Counter-Revolution".
Great explanation of the reasons of the present crisis of the Western world (and the Church).
Free, legal PDF - http://www.pliniocorreadeoliveira.info/UK_RCR.pdf
Print - http://www.amazon.com/Revolution-Counter-Revolution-Plinio-Correa-Oliveira/dp/1877905178/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328266620&sr=1-1
About Plinio Corrêa - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinio_Corr%C3%AAa_de_Oliveira
Precious Blood by Fr. Faber
Thanks, NC, I will try to read it in the French unless a Spanish translation is available, as there is, incidentally, for Jean Ousset's magnum opus "Pour qu'il Regne" or "Para que el Reine" en Espanol. Also in Spanish is Ousset's Introduction to Politics.
"The Liturgical Year
Abbot Gueranger
NTS: I'm posting this as a means to spur me to keeping a resolution to start reading this!!!"
Oh yes, do read them! You won't be sorry - these books are a treasure, IMO.
So many great suggestions so far, thanks.
I highly recommend the book "Catholicism" by Fr. Robert Barron as well as its companion DVD series. Father's insights into the Christian life are quite sound and merit consideration. It's a wonderful mini-course in living the Catholic Faith.
--
The Divinum Officium Project
http://www.divinumofficium.com
>The Divinum Officium Project
Father Barron worries me sometimes, though. He seems to be carried away in what has been called an "imprudent zeal for souls." He seemingly seeks to tone down or fully do away with anything that might stick out for non-Catholics.
Here he is, for example, saying that Adam and Eve weren't literal people, and that to think so is "Misreading Genesis":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVsbVAVSssc
Here he is saying that Hell is probably empty, or at least that we can reasonably believe so:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8zhnooySk4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmsa0sg4Od4
All of these have heavy implications for the faith, such as damage to the teachings of original sin, inerrancy of the Bible, the saints and doctors made suspect, et cetera. Would not his greatest work contain all of these errors (and more)?
Woody, what's "Sire" all about?
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A read for Feb., because Lent is coming is "The Passion & Death of Jesus Christ" by St Alphonsus Ligouri. Great spiritual classic that one.
Matt
What Ishmael said is very much a concern. For Fr Barron to have expressed those views in public makes him about a step away from being a heretic. These are De Fidei points he's doubting. If he is, then do so in prayer and in private, not express them in public.
If Father thinks Adam and Eve aren't literal people, then the need for a Savior isn't literal either. Who does he think Our Lord is, Jesus Nice Guy? The Crucifixion was happenstance because of circumstances of the moment He got caught up in?
In this case, one thinks Father Barron would be better off an Episcopalian where such where such whatevers are of no consequence. One can also doubt Father's sincerity at administering the Sacraments since he doubts so much the core tenets of our Faith.
This is what makes me doubt Rome's desiring restoration of Tradition. Someone like Fr Barron (and the rest of his ilk) gets to continue on and on with no check, no balance, yet the SSPX gets to talk only through the peephole in the door. Really?!
Sacred Tradition is not merely only form (visual) but also content. Of late, the Clergy is evidently lacking both as we are reminded every day.
Matt
Tom L asked, "Is concelebration really that absurd?"
Well, in view of the Holy Father's reply given at meeting several years ago to the clergy of the Diocese or Rome as their bishop, he said concelebration is something "perhaps the Lord did not intend." He was asked this by one of his priests at this meeting.
Matt
Wondering if anyone has read:
"Vatican II: A Historic Turning Point: The Dawning of a New Epoch by David Martin"
http://www.amazon.com/Vatican-II-Historic-Turning-ebook/dp/B0073C3PGO/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1328994173&sr=8-2-spell
Is it worth the read?
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