In Vigilia Omnium Sanctorum: “Poorness, at least in spirit, is the first in order, the mother, and procreatrix of virtues”

Mark well how Jesus goeth upward with His disciples, and downward to the multitude. How should the multitude behold Christ, save in a lower place? Such go not up to the things which are above; such attain not to the things which are high. And when Jesus cometh down, He findeth such as are diseased, for such like go not up to the heights. Hence also Matthew saith that there were there all sick people, iv. 23. Of these every man had need of healing, that, when he had received strength, by and by, he might go up into the mountain. And therefore, being Himself come down, He healeth them in the plain, that is to say, He calleth them away from their lust, and freeth them of their blindness. He cometh down to our wounds, to the end that by a certain use of His nature, and by the abundance thereof, He might make us joint-heirs of the kingdom of heaven.

Novus Ordo, the "Only Form of the Roman Rite" -- now with the "Queer Mass" broadcast live on German TV (video)

German public broadcaster ZDF has for decades presented Sunday "divine services": Evangelical and Catholic. This past Sunday, for the first time, the Catholic "mass" was a "Queer Divine Service." We take the opportunity to remind all that Traditionis custodes, the document that attempted to abolish the Traditional Rite of the Latin Church, had the illegitimate audacity of stating: "The liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, are the only expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite."*

¡Viva Cristo Rey! — Two New Books in Honor of Christ the King: “The Cristero Counterrevolution” and “His Reign Shall Never End”

The centenary of Pius XI's great 1925 encyclical Quas Primas on the divine-human, individual-social Kingship of Jesus Christ has seen the release of two new books of considerable interest to tradition-loving Catholics.

It's Here Now: When they desecrated my Parish

Desecration of my parish church

by Serre Verweij

A video is going viral of a vandal toppling a statue of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in a church in Utrecht. That’s my parish church. A parish of the Archdiocese of Utrecht, led by a pillar of orthodoxy, Cardinal Eijk. An oasis of the true faith in the corrupted and decadent nation that is the modern Netherlands. 

Christ the King Procession in Rio de Janeiro

This past Sunday, October 26, a procession in honor of Christ the King took to the streets of Rio de Janeiro. This year’s procession marked the centenary of the institution of this celebration by Pope Pius XI, through the encyclical Quas Primas. The event was organized by the Centro Cultural Permanência and the SSPX (Society of Saint Pius X), with structural support from the Centro Dom Bosco.

Christ the King in America and in Rome: "Sadness, Beauty, and Hope" - by Fr. Richard Cipolla

 

This was the first year in a while that I did not attend the annual Summorum Pontificum Conference in Rome. My memory of last year’s conference--the laity held up in the lines to get through security, the singing of one of the minor Hours of the liturgical day at the Confessio instead of a Mass that had been forbidden, the feeling of being treated like strangers in a place that is near the very heart of the Church--all this contributed to my decision to stay home.  And this in spite of the remarkable papal decision to allow Cardinal Burke, whom I love as a friend, to celebrate Pontifical Mass in the Traditional Roman Rite at the altar of the Throne.  And this in spite of Cardinal Zuppi’s celebration of Solemn Vespers at San Lorenzo in Lucina on Friday evening.

Roberto de Mattei: "The Pontifical Mass at the Altar of the Chair of Saint Peter": An Event Far Greater than one Might Imagine Today

Cardinal Burke's solemn Mass at the Chair of Peter

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

October 28, 2025

The event has an importance—even symbolic—far greater than one might imagine today; and its memory deserves to be handed down to the reflection of tomorrow's historians. 

It was around 2:30 p.m. when the singing of the Creed echoed under the majestic vaults of St. Peter's Basilica, intoned with powerful voices by a procession of over two hundred priests, advancing slowly, followed by thousands of faithful participating in the 14th International Pilgrimage Ad Petri Sedem.

New Books: "SPES NOSTRA: Words of Encouragement and Consolation for Weary Members of the Mystical Body" -- and "Summa Theologica for Babies: Aquinas' Five Ways"

 

The always fantastic AROUCA PRESS has just released a great book for these times of crisis in the Chuch, Spes Nostra (Our Hope), a book dedicated to reminding us of the good and spiritual things of Catholic life to strengthen us in our weary days:

French Weekly Magazine: 115 Nations in the Vatican Pontifical Mass - "Liturgical Pacification in Rome?"

Father Danziec writes for French weekly newsmagazine Valeurs Actuelles on the Pontifical Mass of the Rome pilgrimage celebrated on October 25, 2025, by Cardinal Burke in the Vatican Basilica

Leo XIV: Liturgical pacification in Rome?

Father Danziec

Valeurs Actuelles

October 26, 2025

(image source)

Yesterday, a Latin Mass was celebrated in the traditional rite at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Attended by a huge crowd of faithful, the ceremony was authorized by Pope Leo XIV. A sign of détente?

"Leo XIV, by authorizing the Mass at Saint Peter's, has put an end to the most drastic season of the Liturgical War."

(source)

Standing Room Only at the Return of the Old Rite to Saint Peter's

Nicola Spuntoni

La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana

October 27, 2025

Reinstated after a three-year ban, the traditional liturgy fills the Vatican Basilica: over two thousand people attend the pontifical Mass celebrated by Cardinal Burke for the annual Summorum Pontificum gathering. High numbers and a low average age testify to the excellent health of the faithful attached to the Vetus Ordo.

The best image of the Pontifical Mass celebrated by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke at the altar of St. Peter's Chair was taken in a joke by Damian Thompson, a brilliant writer for the British magazine The Spectator: “You know it's an ancient rite when the priests aren't ancient.” And indeed, what was most striking about Saturday afternoon's ceremony was the young age not only of the priests but also of all the faithful present.

There were certainly more than two thousand people. The gendarmes and sampietrini noticed this as they found themselves managing the impressive influx for the highlight of the 14th Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage. With the benches and standing room filled to capacity, many were forced to remain in the adjacent aisles, and queues soon formed inside the Basilica. It was a “sweet” inconvenience, if you will, because it testified to the excellent health of the community of lovers of the so-called Tridentine Mass. There was a large turnout and a lot of media attention, with a large contingent of journalists and photographers unlike anything seen before 2022.

Solemn High Mass Today in the Archdiocese of Washington for Feast of Christ the King

Rome has not been the only place in the Catholic world in these past few days where bishops and priests have cooperated to make the Church's venerable and ancient rite more available to God's faithful people.

Today, at the chapel of Saint John's in Forest Glen, Silver Spring, Maryland, a solemn high Mass for the feast of Christ the King, observed on the last Sunday of October annually in the traditional calendar as established by Pope Pius XI in 1925, was offered by priests stationed in the Archdiocese. 

More images of the Mass at Saint Peter's Basilica (Fantastic panoramic images)

 

All images courtesy of D. Elvir Tabakovic (Claritate.org) - 

Click on arrows of album below to see all images

And, for the record, the articles on the Pontifical Mass by the Associated Press ("American Cardinal Celebrates Old Latin Mass in St Peter's in a sign of change" - link) and The New York Times ("Papal Permission for Latin Mass in St. Peter’s Gives Traditionalists Hope"- link).

Cardinal Burke's Sermon at the Vatican Basilica Pontifical Mass - October 25, 2025 - We thank God that, through Summorum Pontificum, the whole Church is coming to an ever-greater understanding and love of the great gift of the Sacred Liturgy

(Cardinal Burke in St. Peter's, at the main evening news broadcast in Italy, TG1)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

It is the source of deepest joy for me to offer the Pontifical Mass at the Altar of the Chair of Saint Peter as the culmination of the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage of 2025. In the name of all present, I express heartfelt gratitude to those who have labored so diligently and well to make possible the Pilgrimage. I am offering the Holy Mass for the faithful in the Church throughout the world, who labor to safeguard and promote the beauty of the Usus Antiquior of the Roman Rite. May today’s offering of the Pontifical Mass encourage and strengthen us all in love of our Eucharistic Lord Who, through Apostolic Tradition and with unfailing and immeasurable love for us, renews sacramentally His Sacrifice on Calvary and nourishes us with the incomparable fruit of His Sacrifice: the Heavenly Food of His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

Pontifical Mass at Saint Peter’s

 Deo gratias!

Damian Thompson posted the image below, showing an overflowing number of pilgrims:

All the Glory of the King's Daughter is Within: Supporting the Hermit Vocation in a World of Noise

 

Guest writer, Mark Rose - Founder & Executive Director of Heed, a nonprofit that supports eremitic vocations

In an age defined by ceaseless activity, digital distraction, and a near-compulsory social engagement, the eremitical vocation stands as a profound and jarring contradiction. To the modern mind, the hermit’s life of withdrawal, silence, and hidden prayer seems not only anachronistic but useless—a flight from the pressing needs of the world. Yet, from the perspective of the Faith, this radical retreat is not an abandonment of humanity but a deeper plunge into the heart of the Mystical Body. The hermit, hidden with Christ in God, stands in the breach, offering a spiritual warfare of prayer and penance that is mysteriously fruitful for the salvation of souls.

First Day of Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage - Rome - Pontifical Vespers with Cardinal Zuppi

From our friends at Messa in Latino:

 

With the conclusion of the 10th Pax Liturgica Meeting at the Pontifical Patristic Institute Augustinianum, which we reported on live in previous articles, the 14th Peregrinatio ad Petri Sedem has officially begun: the editorial staff of MiL-Messainlatino.it is and will be present for all three days!

 

A letter to Aldo Maria Valli on the syndrome called "inclusivitis.” How it is made manifest and how to combat it.

 [Note: Aldo Maria Valli is the famous retired Vaticanist of Italian public broadcaster RAI.]

October 23rd 2025

 

Dear Aldo Maria,

Event: Solemn Pontifical High Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes, Philadelphia (Cardinal Müller)

 

(image from past event in France, 2024)

Cardinal Müller will celebrate a Solemn Pontifical High Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes, in Philadelphia, on November 2nd.

Sunday, November 2, 2025 • 5:00 p.m.

Mass Venue: Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 6301 Woodbine Avenue, Philadelphia, PA

"Old rite, new generation - The Latin Mass finds new life in region: At Our Lady of the Valley, a quiet revival is underway as young parishioners embrace the centuries-old Latin Mass"

From Easthampton, in the Connecticut River valley of Massachusetts, comes this fantastic report on the power of the Traditional Latin Mass for a new generation of young Catholics and their large families.

Main excerpts, from the Daily Hampshire Gazette:

EASTHAMPTON — It’s a fallacy to say that young people are only into new things.

Rosary in Chant, Second and Expanded Edition

Back in November 2023, I announced a wonderful new resource from Os Justi Press: a booklet, Sanctissimum Rosarium in Cantu, that sets the Latin prayers of the Rosary to Gregorian chant psalm tones, in order to make the chanting of it very easy to do.

By their fruits you shall know them: The Spiritual Fruits of Summorum Pontificum and the Traditional Mass are Astonishing

It is not the Rite that divides, but the exclusion:

Let us judge it by its fruits

Miguel Escrivá

Infovaticana

October 18, 2025

First, those who love the traditional Mass are excluded, and then they are accused of excluding. They are set apart, and then that marginalization is used as proof that they are “divisive.” It is a perfect circle of exclusion and blame. But the reality should be precisely the opposite: when the Vetus Ordo coexists with the ordinary form, it does not generate division, but rather a fruitful balance. This is what Benedict XVI stated in Summorum Pontificum and in his letter to the bishops: the two forms of the Roman rite should not be in conflict, but should coexist in peace. Where this has been correctly applied, parishes and seminaries have filled again.

Ratzinger: "The deepest cause of the crisis that has subverted the Church is located in the effacing of the priority of God in the liturgy."

 (Repost from 2017)

The Russian edition of volume XI of the Opera Omnia of Benedict XVI Ratzinger was published this Easter (a common date this year for East and West) and Pope Benedict XVI had been asked at the beginning of the project, in 2015, to write a preface -- which he did.

Corriere della Sera provided the Italian version of the Russian publication, which we now present in English:

Benedict XVI
[Corriere della Sera, April 15, 2017]

Nihil Operi Dei praeponatur - "Let nothing be set before the Divine Worship." With these words, Saint Benedict, in his Rule (43,3), established the absolute priority of Divine Worship in relation with any other task of monastic life. This, even in monastic life, was not necessarily obvious, because for monks the work in agriculture and in knowledge was also an essential task.

Transalpine Redemptorists Statement

 On their blog (link).

It isn’t about the “Smells and Bells”- The Knoxville Ruse

 This is the official letter of the Bishop Beckman annihilation of the Traditional Latin Mass in Knoxville (East Tennessee):

39% of Young American Priests Consider Access to the Traditional Latin Mass a Priority

 39% of priests in the United States ordained after the year 2000 consider access to the Traditional Latin Mass a priority -- 1in 4, compared with just 11%, or 1 in 10, for priests ordained before 1980.

Cardinal Sarah in interview: I have spoken to the Pope about the Traditional Mass, he is aware, he is the Father of all.

Cardinal Sarah granted an interview to Tribune Chrétienne from his home in Rome (video, in French, at the end). In it, he had important words regarding a matter close to his heart, the Traditional Latin Mass, and the traditionalist faithful:

[Interviewer:] In Saint-Anne d'Auray, you reminded us that man is great when he is on his knees. A man is great when he is on his knees. So, we know your attachment to traditional liturgy. You recently said that you hoped that the motu proprio Traditionis custodes might be amended. Today, well, there is nothing really new. What do you expect from the new pope with regard to this motu proprio, which has been particularly painful in France, due to the sometimes very clumsy application of this motu proprio by certain bishops? Do you hope that it will be modified at least, or withdrawn?

A Reaction to Kwasniewski's Appearance on Pints with Aquinas

As many of our readers will know, I appeared recently on the Pints with Aquinas podcast, hosted by Matt Fradd. The interview has over 100K views. The impact seems to be international, as well: a German website called Certamen wrote up a succinct commentary that is translated below. -PAK 

Another Traditional Monastery in France -- the Monks of Le Barroux take charge of the Trappist monastery of Bellefontaine

 

After trying for many years to save their monastery of Our Lady of  Bellefontaine (Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire region of France), the monks of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), a reduced community of aged religious men, decided to pass on their installations to the Abbey of Saint Mary Magdalen of Le Barroux. The move was announced by the local diocese, the diocese of Angers. 

Traditional Latin Mass annihilated in the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee (Update: and a humiliating homily)(Update: The International Una Voce Federation responds to the insulting Half-Truths)

The cruelty taking place under Leo XIV is becoming loud and deafening. Rome does nothing.

Tragic.

 

And not even one alternative venue was offered in a diocese of 14,000 square miles occupying all of East Tennessee. The current bishop was named by Francis last year. 

Document below:

Repentance, Forbearance, Acceptance: Homily for the Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost:

The paralytic healed by Jesus (James Tissot)

Homily for the Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost: Repentance, Forbearance, Acceptance

The following homily was given today at a traditional parish.

“I was glad when they said unto me, We will go into the house of the Lord.” (Ps. 122:1.)

Both the Introit and the Gradual for this Mass echo the pilgrim’s joy, the joy of entering into the house of the Lord. In the Epistle, St Paul tells us that in Christ we are given all the graces to be joyful.

The Gospel is quite practical; presenting a three-step process to attain joy, namely, repentance, “… thy sins are forgiven thee,” forbearance, “Rise, take up thy bed,” and acceptance, “… walk into thy house.”

Dilexi Te -- Leo XIV's first Exhortation

by Roberto de Mattei

October 12, 2025

Leo XIV's first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi te ("I have loved you"), signed on October 4, 2025, and published on October 9, deserves our attention more than some of the pope's interviews, which are sometimes given excessive media coverage. We are faced not with a few words, but with a comprehensive document comprising 121 paragraphs, divided into five chapters plus an introduction. As has been noted, it is not a social encyclical, but an apostolic exhortation. An encyclical is a doctrinal document, while an apostolic exhortation is a pastoral document, which does not define principles, but exhorts us to behave in a certain way.

COLUMBUS IS OURS -- Let us rejoice!

A Happy Columbus Day for All our Readers! 

¡Feliz Día de la Hispanidad!

 

Monastery of Sant Jeroni de la Murtra, near Barcelona,
where the Catholic Monarchs welcomed Columbus back from the Indies in 1493

Now that four centuries have sped since a Ligurian first, under God's guidance, touched shores unknown beyond the Atlantic, the whole world is eager to celebrate the memory of the event, and glorify its author. Nor could a worthier reason be found where through zeal should be kindled. For the exploit is in itself the highest and grandest which any age has ever seen accomplished by man; and he who achieved it, for the greatness of his mind and heart, can be compared to but few in the history of humanity.

Pope Leo XIV’s view of “Synodality” in Letter: The Bishop is the Guardian, and the College of Bishops, with the Pope at its Head

 In a letter to a conference of the Camaldolese congregation on “Synodality” and the position of the hierarchy, Pope Leo XIV makes his position on “Synodality” as clear as possible:

Cardinal Müller -- Interview on Leo XIV's first months in office: The Latin Mass "issue cannot be resolved through authoritarianism."

Cardinal Ludwig Müller, former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, granted an interview to Italian daily Il Giornale, published on October 6.

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, you are Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. How do you assess these first months of Pope Leo's pontificate?

"Many Aves pierce the sky," October 7th 1571 - Lepanto

 

"Victory shall come from on high" 

 "The Battle of Lepanto"

 by Veronese

Holy Rosary: Leo XIV celebrates Vespers ad orientem in Domus Australia

 

It was the first "ad orientem" Office celebration by Leo XIV as pope, and it took place during his visit to Domus Australia (the pilgrim house established by the bishops of Australia in Rome) yesterday. (Edited: The first Mass ad orientem was a mass of Paul VI celebrated for the Carabinieri on July 15, 2025.)

The notes below are by a friend:

A True Evidence of Unity: Leo XIV receives Cardinal Cipriani Thorne -- and the first abrogation of a Francis document

No bishop was as hated by Francis, since his time as Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as the conservative Archbishop of Lima, Peru, Cardinal Cipriani Thorne (now emeritus). Since Benedict XVI's meeting for Latin American bishops in Aparecida, Brazil (2007), Bergoglio identified Cipriani as the enemy to be isolated. 

Francis met Cipriani after his election, but then proceeded to remake Lima as a bastion of "progressive" Catholicism in Latin America.

For the Feast of St. Francis: Lenin's "mea culpa" "We would need ten Saint Francis'."

 

 Lenin's Real Legacy  

65 Franciscan Martyrs under Communism*

I came across this rather old article and thought it merited a translation for the Feast of St. Francis in celebration of the universal wonder this great saint enjoys among the most unlikely characters, as he was the complete opposite of their atheistic ideologies.  Some of our readers no doubt already know about Lenin’s ‘mea colpa’ but I did not and would like to share it with others who know nothing of these historical statements from the man and mastermind behind Soviet Communism.   F.R. 

 *******

 Paolo Vicentin

«Avvenire»

12th  July 2007

Best Videos of the Week (1st Saturday of October)

Starting this week, Rorate will gather the most significant videos of the past week, in case you missed some of the Catholic news.

Our choices for this week:

1. The words of Leo XIV to the media on the Durbin award:

The Fire of Faith - Our Lady of Clear Creek video

May this new video by Clear Creek Abbey (Oklahoma) inspire you and yours to deepen your interest in monastic life: