RORATE CÆLI: April 2017

The un-demonization of the SSPX: Exemplary decision by Bishop Planet

It is well known that a letter from the Ecclesia Dei Commission of March 27, 2017 informed the bishops of the world that the Pope had approved provisions to ensure the validity of marriages celebrated by priests of the Society of St. Pius X.

His Excellency, Alain Planet, bishop of Carcassonne, through a soon-to-be published decree, gives the most generous interpretation of the terms of this letter and provides unrestricted delagation to all the priests of the Fraternity of St. Pius X throughout the territory of his diocese to receive matrimonial consents in all the chapels of the Fraternity. The marriages they celebrate will be recorded in the registers of the diocesan chancellery.

Furthermore, if marriages are celebrated by these priests in parish churches, pastors are invited to delegate their ordinary powers to receive vows as they would do for all Catholic priests.

[Source and tip: Riposte Catholique]

Saint Catherine of Siena to the Pope: "Don't believe in the counsels of the devil!

Alas, sweet my father, with this sweet hand I pray you, and tell you to come to discomfit our enemies.

On behalf of Christ crucified I tell it you: refuse to believe the counsels of the devil, who would hinder your holy and good resolution. Be manly in my sight, and not timorous. Answer God, who calls you to hold and possess the seat of the glorious Shepherd Saint Peter, whose vicar you have been. And raise the standard of the holy Cross; for as we were freed by the Cross--so Paul says--thus raising this standard, which seems to me the refreshment of Christians, we shall be freed -- we from our wars and divisions and many sins, the infidel people from their infidelity. In this way you will come and attain the reformation, giving good priests to Holy Church. Fill her heart with the ardent love that she has lost; for she has been so drained of blood by the iniquitous men who have devoured her that she is wholly wan. But comfort you, and come, father, and no longer make to wait the servants of God, who afflict themselves in desire.

And I, poor, miserable woman, can wait no more; living, I seem to die in my pain, seeing God thus reviled.

Saint Catherine of Siena

Letter to Pope Gregory XI

Papolatria Maxima: Francis' statue given veneration in Brazilian cathedral

A video from the Associated Press -- Easter mass of Paul VI at the Cathedral of Saint Peter of Alcantara, in Petropolis, Brazil (tip: Messa in Latino):

Guest-Post: George Weigel and the SSPX

George Weigel and the SPPX

by P.J. Smith

George Weigel, in his most recent column, has decided that the Holy See should not offer the Society of St. Pius X a personal prelature. It appears from statements by Archbishop Guido Pozzo, secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, and Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the Society, that a personal prelature is the current offer. More than that, it seems that the Holy See is not insisting on the Society’s submission to every jot and tittle of every document of the Second Vatican Council. This is wonderful news.

Many informed commentators noted that the 2012 negotiations between Rome and the Society were torpedoed at the last moment by the sudden insistence of the Roman authorities on such submission. Archbishop Pozzo has conceded in public interviews that there are levels of authority in the documents of that “pastoral council,” and that total assent may not be necessary. And Weigel is positively hysterical at the prospect.

Official logo for Pope Francis' visit to Egypt
including the Islamic crescent moon

It can hardly be called a coincidence that as Pope Francis heads to Egypt, no doubt to promote "dialogue" with Islam, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has several days ago published a short letter to a Polish conference on his thought on Church-State relations, in which he echoes his thesis from his famous Regensburg address, that Islam and violence are inherently linked because of its detachment from reason itself.

Order of Malta latest

The election of a new Grand Master of the Order of Malta in Rome on Saturday - tomorrow - has precipitated an avalanche of news stories, many containing intriguing claims about the root causes of the shock resignation of the last Grand Master, Fra Matthew Festing.

The most interesting aspect, which has been revealed already in part by past postings by Steve Skojek at One Peter Five, is the role of money in the saga of the Knights. The claim is that because Order was a beneficiary of a shadowy trust based in Switzerland, the attempts by Fra Matthew Festing to get to the bottom of this trust and ensure that the law was followed threatened to precipitate revelations which would be embarassing to people in positions of considerable influence in the Vatican. Festing had to be removed in order to remove this threat. The interim leadership of the Order has, at any rate, rapidly come to an amicable agreement with the trustees of this trust and we may now hear no more about it.

Links:

The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation, by Rod Dreher, Sentinel Press, 2017, 262 pp.

One might not be inclined to read a formal schismatic’s thoughts on how Christian’s should comport themselves in the secular world. But two things might persuade one to make an exception for Rod Dreher’s The Benedict Option: first, a favorable mention of the book by the Rt. Rev. Abbot Philip Anderson of the traditionalist Benedictine monastery at Clear Creek; and second, the bitter dismissal of the book by many mainstream Catholic pundits. And one would not be disappointed. While the criticisms of some reviewers of the book as gimmicky and inconsistent have some justification, Dreher’s overall analysis of the current situation in Western Europe and North America is accurate, and his suggestions for a practical response to the situation are sensible. In fact, Dreher’s insights can very easily be developed into an argument for Catholic Traditionalism and against the anti-traditionalism of the Catholic mainstream since Vatican II.

Since moving to Norcia from Rome in the year 2000, the traditional community of Benedictines in the birthplace of St. Benedict had been living in the middle of the town in the old diocesan chancellory, and praying the office in the basilica built over the house of SS. Benedict and Scholastica. Since the destruction of the basilica by the recent Umbrian earthquakes, however, they have been living at an old monastic grange on a hill above the city. Now they have announced on their website that the move is to be permanent:

On April 22, 2017 at the Hotel Columbus in Rome, a block from Saint Peter’s Square, six internationally renowned lay scholars spoke at a landmark conference: "Seeking Clarity: One year after Amoris Laetitia," calling on Pope Francis to answer the dubia of the four cardinals over the passages in Amoris Laetitia that purport to justify acts of adultery, against the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue, and to allow the reception of Holy Communion by those living in permanent and public adultery more uxorio.

We invite you to read the important interventions from this conference in English by Dr. Anna M. Silvas, "A Year After Amoris Laetitia. A Timely Word" , and by Dr. Douglas Farrow, "The Roots of the Present Crisis" (video).

Additionally, the following is an English translation of the full intervention of Professor Claudio Pierantoni, for the benefit of Rorate's readers:

The Need for Consistency between Magisterium and Tradition: Examples from History

For the first time in nearly 50 years, only the traditional Latin Mass to be offered in Irish Diocese

The pathetic tale of the Catholic Church in Ireland continues to unfold. The latest chapter is that, because of a priest shortage, there will be "no Masses" said on Tuesday in the entire Diocese of Limerick -- something that hasn't happened in almost two centuries.

The diocese and the media tell us there will only be "lay-led liturgies of the Word" (God be praised, this Catholic has no idea what that even is, and will die happy never knowing).

Normally, we wouldn't really care that all the Novus Ordos dried up in a Diocese. Why would we? We pray they all die on the vine around the world. But we did find this a good time to correct the Diocese of Limerick and the media.

There will indeed be Masses said there Tuesday. Two of them, in fact, by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (click here for Mass times and location).

You can read the full -- yet incomplete -- story, for the record here by the Irish Times.

So history truly is being made Tuesday in Limerick. This will be the first time in nearly 50 years, the first time since Paul VI invented and imposed his committee-made new Mass, on the First Sunday of Advent, 1969, that the only Mass a Catholic can attend in an entire Irish diocese will be the traditional Latin Mass. Deo gratias, alleluia, alleluia.

Auguri, Roma!

Congratulations to the Eternal City, sanctified by the blood of Sts. Peter and Paul, and countless martyrs, on her 2770th anniversary!

This age, too, shall pass.

Tempora bona veniant!

Pax Christi veniat!

Regnum Christi veniat!

Easter Friday and the discipline of abstinence

Every year at this time, Catholics who attend the traditional Latin Mass ask if Easter Friday is a day of abstinence or not.

Well, it depends what discipline you follow. In 1962, the year of the Roman missal used by Catholics faithful to the traditional Latin Mass under Summorum Pontificum, the discipline (law, in fact) was abstinence was still required on Easter Friday. The 1917 Code of Canon Law in force at the time mandated abstinence from meat on all Fridays of the year except for days of precept (that is, holy days of obligation).

Easter Friday was not, in 1962, a holy day of obligation, even though it remains a first class feast day in the octave of Easter. This is similar to the Ember Days during the octave of Pentecost (which are, with fasting, even stricter than Easter Friday during an otherwise joyous week).

A glorious wave of canonizations: Jacinta & Francisco Marto; Mexican and Brazilian Protomartyrs

Today, Pope Francis presided a Public Ordinary Consistory for the canonization of several blesseds.

Considering the year of the Fatima Centenary, the canonization of Jacinta and Francisco Marto (the Fatima seers, along with Sister Lucia, their cousin) is obviously the greatest news. The canonization will take place in Fatima on May 13.

But the consistory also approved the canonizations, and set the dates for the respective ceremonies, of two very special sets of saints: the Protomartyrs (First Martyrs) of the two nations with the largest nominally Catholic populations, Mexico and Brazil.

Ever since the Porta Pia fell, in 1870, and Rome became the capital of a newly united Italy, no Pope has ever again claimed the right to forbid anyone from coming to Rome. The city is not owned by the Pope, after all, and the temporal power of the papacy has, since 1929, been reduced to the very small limits of Vatican City and a few additional buildings in the region.

Alas, that was before Caudillismo had reached the City! If only John Paul II and Benedict XVI had known about this extra-muros absolute power of the Pope. El Caudillo Jorge knows better: who cares about law and rights, if he hates you, he can just order you out, muchacho!

Exclusive Text by Benedict XVI: The Crisis that has subverted the Church is a Crisis of Liturgy Above All

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.

EX ORIENTE LUX

Osanna, Sanctus Deus Sabaoth,
superillustrans claritate tua
felices ignes horum malacoth!

L'anima d'ogne bruto e delle piante

di complession potenziata tira
lo raggio e il moto delle luci sante;

ma vostra vita sanza mezzo spira
la Somma Beninanza, e la innamora
di sé sì che poi sempre la disira.

E quinci puoi argomentare ancora
vostra resurrezion, se tu ripensi
come l'umana carne fessi allora

che li primi parenti intrambo fensi.

Dante
Paradiso
c. VII

________________________________________________
Hosanna holy God of Sabaoth,/ abundantly illumining with thy brightness/ the blessed fires of these kingdoms ...
The soul of every brute and of each plant,/ The ray and motion of the sacred lights,/ Draw from complexion with meet power endued.
But this our life the Supreme Good inspires/ Immediate, and enamours of itself;/ So that our wishes rest forever here.
And hence thou mayst by inference conclude/ Our resurrection certain, if thy mind/ Consider how the human flesh was framed,/ When both our parents at the first were made.
(Transl. H.F.Cary, adap.) - ...Our regular Paschal feature...

What We May Learn from Christ's Descent into Hell (St. Thomas)

From the descent of Christ to hell we may learn, for our instruction, four things:

Tenebræ factæ sunt: The Crucifixion of Our Lord

Tenebræ factæ sunt,

dum crucifixissent Iesum iudæi:

et circa horam nonam exclamavit Iesus voce magna:

"Deus meus, ut quid me dereliquisti?"

Alejo de Vahía
Cristo Crucificado (c. 1500)
Church of Saint Francis, Palencia

by Fr. A.-Joseph Chauvin S.S.S.

They crucified Him…Jesus has reached Calvary. The cross is driven into the ground, the hammers, the nails are prepared; the ladders are straightened, the ropes stretched… The executioners are at the point of beginning the death sentence… The soldiers brutally seize Jesus, loosen the chains, tear off His garments and leave almost naked Him, “Who clothed the sky with stars and the earth with flowers.” They tie the Saviour to the ropes which are thrown over the two arms of the Cross and raise Him up. They then stretch the arms and tie them to the horizontal crossbar, then each of them taking a nail and a hammer, the barbarians nail His hands and feet to the wood of the Cross. The meek Lamb offers Himself to the executioners of this unjust sentence, without putting up any resistance!

Considerabam ad dexteram, et videbam, et non erat qui cognosceret me

O Lord, who art called the Branch, the Orient, the Splendour of the eternal light, and the Sun of Justice, who art that Tree, of whom Thy beloved disciple speaks as the Tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, and its leaves for the healing of the nations, give Thy grace and blessing on all those various states and conditions in Thy Holy Church, which have sprung from Thee and live in Thy Life.

Give to all Bishops the gifts of knowledge, discernment, prudence, and love.

IGNATIUS BARREIRO, Presb.
22 Oct. MCMXLVII - 13 Apr. MMXVII
Requiescat in pace

A Priest Forever, According to the Order of Melchizedek

Dr. John C. Rao

for The Remnant

Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula, the chaplain of the Roman Forum, long time head of the Rome Bureau of Human Life International, and dear, dear friend ended his earthly pilgrimage to God at 2:00 A.M. today. His soul follows that of another dear friend, John Vennari, into Purgatory and---God willing---as swiftly as possible into Heaven. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ cannot but deal as mercifully as possible with both of these good, good men.

What we've lost -- Maundy Thursday and Pius XII

It's remarkable what we've lost in under 60 years. Below, a photo of Pope Venerable Pius XII, on Maundy Thursday in the Sistine Chapel. Santo Subito.

THE CHALICE - Simili modo, postquam coenatum est...

Hic calix novum testamentum est in meo sanguine. (From the Epistle for the Mass in Cena Domini, I Corinthians xi, 25: "This chalice is the new testament in My Blood.")

Chalice - Lily. The chalice is the lily, stylized and adapted to our use, and which, born from water, is proper for us to take to our lips.

The lily, and especially the water-lily, also called lotus or nenuphar, has always had a peculiar place in the symbolism of all religions. It projects its roots to substantial and deep regions, separated from our sight by these fluid, contemplative, mirror-like layers which are the domain of that which is contingent, unstable, of illusion and of this "time", of this reflection which relates to several circumstances.

Before the events of 1917, except for the bond of kinship that united us, no other particular affection made me prefer the company of Jacinta and Francisco to that of any other child.

On the contrary, her company was at times most unwanted, due to her delicate character. When faced with the smallest quarrel, as those that happen between children when they play, she would be saddened, and go to a corner ... . In order to have her back playing with us, the sweetest gentleness that children are capable of at such times were not enough. It was then necessary to let her pick the game and the child with whom she wanted to play it. She already had then a heart very inclined to goodness, and the good God had granted her a sweet and gentle character that made her, at the same time, lovable and attractive.

For some reason I ignore, Jacinta, along with her brother Francisco, had a special preference for me and came after me to play almost always. They did not enjoy the company of the other children and asked me to go with them near a well that was in their parents's backyard. Once we got there, Jacinta picked the games which we would play. Her favorite ones were, almost always, played on top of this well, which was covered with stones on top, under the shade of an olive tree and two plum trees ... .

SSPX Prelature closer than ever -- even official websites now mention it

The following is a translation of the text by our friends in Secretum meum mihi.

For the Bergoglian website Faro di Roma, in an article dated Apr. 10, 2017, the announcement of the establishment of the possible personal prelature of the SSPX/FSSPX "could take place in Fatima, next May 13th."

The same post, however, includes the following astounding discovery: while reporting on the ordination of their subdeacons for this season, the official website of the German-language international seminary of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), in Zaitzkofen, Germany, the seminary report adds the following:

"The five Levites will receive the Diaconate afterwards and then, in June 2018, will go to the altar as priests. Maybe the Society will have already by then be established as a personal prelature by Rome."

From a reader:

Radio Immaculata is the all new internet radio station of the Franciscan Friars at Gosport, England, hoping to be instruments in the hands of the Immaculate with the slogan: “Bringing Forth Christ Through Mary”. The mission of this station is according to the Marian-Franciscan spirituality developed and promoted by St Maximilian Kolbe, the great twentieth century saint and martyr who volunteered to die in the place of a fellow prisoner at Auschwitz. Known as the “Apostle of Consecration to Mary." St Maximilian believed that the surest way to win souls for Christ is through Unlimited Consecration to the Immaculate. The station offers a wide variety, both live and on demand, to help promote and maintain traditional Catholic life. The Friars hope that listeners will find plenty to offer them rich spiritual nourishment and support, and all through the Heart of our Blessed Mother. A special feature is the daily live show from one of the Friars at 5pm. With their preference for the Tridentine Liturgy, you can tune in live each week to broadcasts of the Sung Latin Mass in the 'Extraordinary Form' at 9.30 am on a Saturday Morning and 5.00 pm on a Sunday afternoon. More particularly however, the Friars will broadcast the Easter Triduum in the Extraordinary Form (pre-1955). You can tune in live or listen on demand at www.radioimmaculata.org. The programme for Holy Week will be as follows:

Angelico Press has published the proceedings of The Roman Forum's 2016 symposium in Gardone: Luther and His Progeny: 500 Years of Protestantism and Its Consequences for Church, State, and Society. The volume includes essays by John Rao, the Rev. John Hunwicke, and Christopher A. Ferrara, among others. The essays examine Luther's role in the dissolution of Christendom, and the effects of his teachings on later developments. The authors show how deeply the modern world has been marked by Luther's innovations. Traditionalists interested in a restoration of Christendom would do well to read Luther and His Progeny for insights on how Medieval Christendom declined and fell, since the success of a restoration will in part depend on understanding that fall.

You Suggest: Traditional Carmelites need help building a new monastery

The following was sent to us by a reader. An important cause, indeed:

DONATE ONLINE HERE (for address for checks, click "read more")

Dear Rorate Caeli,

There is a Carmelite community in Elysburg, PA, that uses the Tridentine Mass and Breviary exclusively and who need help building a new monastery. Because they are true blue cloistered nuns (no internet use, no videos, no CDs - just joyfully hidden away in their monastery), I wondered if you might be able to alert your readers to their need.

Fra Angelico's "Vision of Ezechiel," 1452, showing the Throne of God's "wheel in the midst of a wheel" (Ezech. 1:16) -- a wheel of Apostles and Evangelists within a wheel of Old Testament Prophets, all gazing upon and drawing inspiration from the rays of the Light Divine, but the Apostles and Evangelists have a closer and clearer vision of the Light.

While the sacred observance of Holy Week is now under way in which the Church relives with her Lord that suffering and death He endured to save her, we also may mark the commemorations of the saints and martyrs who showed forth the Lord's salvation in their own lives and deaths. On this day, the traditional Roman Martyrology presents for our veneration another Old Testament saint -- the holy prophet Ezechiel, author of the Book of Ezechiel, one of the three Major Prophets (so called due to their length). Like so many of his fellow prophets, St. Ezechiel traditionally is said to have been martyred by his countrymen. St. Ezechiel (Hebrew Yehezqel, which means "Whom God strengthens") was an Aaronite priest who in 597 B.C. was carried away from Judah and Jerusalem to Babylon, where over the course of more than two decades God and His angels repeatedly appeared to him in striking visions, revealing to him that Jerusalem would be destroyed but that a new David would arise to restore Israel, and directing him to teach, reprove, and encourage his fellow exiled Jews with his divinely inspired prophecies. St. Ezechiel's name heads the list of saints in the Roman Martyrology for this date, which says:

This Day, the Tenth Day of April

The prophet Ezechiel, who was put to death in Babylon by the Judge of the people of Israel, because he reproved him for worshipping idols. He was buried in the sepulcher of Sem and Arphaxad, Abraham's ancestors. To his tomb many were wont to resort for the purpose of prayer.

[On this Palm Sunday, Rorate remembers the
over 30 Coptic Christians martyred today by
the satanic Sect of Death in Egypt.]

Meditation for Palm Sunday - Jesus Carries the Cross to Calvary

I.

The sentence upon Our Saviour having been published, they straightway seize hold of Him in their fury: they strip Him anew of that purple rag, and put His own raiment upon Him, to lead Him away to be crucified on Calvary, - the place appropriated for the execution of criminals: They took off the cloak from Him, and put on Him His own garments, and led Him away to crucify Him.” (Matt. xxvii 31.) They then lay hold of two rough beams, and quickly make them into a cross, and order Him to carry it on His shoulders to the place of His punishment. What cruelty, to lay upon the criminal the gibbet on which he has to die!

But this is Thy lot, O my Jesus, because Thou has taken my sins upon Thyself.

II.

Jesus refuses not the cross; with love He embraces it, as being the altar whereon is destined to be completed the sacrifice of His life for the salvation of men: And bearing His own Cross, He went forth to that place which is called Calvary.

Ma poi ch’i’ fui al piè d’un colle giunto,

là dove terminava quella valle

che m’avea di paura il cor compunto,

guardai in alto e vidi le sue spalle

vestite già de’ raggi del pianeta

che mena dritto altrui per ogne calle.

(Dante Alighieri, Inferno, Canto I)

***

Right in the beginning of the greatest poem ever written by a Christian, Dante's "Commedia", the reader is faced with a terrifying scene: a blighted valley, a wild and suffocating jungle so deep and impenetrable that the very rays of the Sun cannot reach within. We are, "nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita" ("halfway through the journey of our life"), so deep in sin we cannot even see our own selves, Light being nowhere.

Video (and CD): Requiem, by the FSSP

You can buy/download the album HERE.

Sacred Triduum: of course the '62 books are permitted

One of the biggest myths still remaining concerning the traditional Latin Mass is that the use of 1962 books for the Sacred Triduum is not allowed at regular parishes. Not only is this "fake news," but the Vatican has clarified the fact that any parish may use the 1962 books for the entire Triduum -- and it can even be in addition to an existing novus ordo schedule.

Pope Pius XI, Maundy Thursday

The confusion stems from Article Two of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, which states:

The Church and Asmodeus - Part 5, conclusion

By Don Pietro Leone

A spiritu fornicationis

libera nos, Domine

(invocation from the Litany of the Saints)

CONCLUSION

The intention in writing this essay was to investigate how the concupiscence of the flesh, or, more particularly, the spirit of fornication, or impurity, has been able to penetrate the mind of the contemporary Church. We have been at pains to trace it back, through various canons of the New Church Law and various doctrines of recent Magisterium, to the Second Vatican Council, where the spirit of Fallen Nature made its official entry into the Catholic Church.

This spirit of impurity corresponds to the World’s vision of sexuality. Quoting our earlier analysis of this vision, and alluding briefly to the period extending from the last Vatican Council to the present pontificate, we shall proceed to examine how and to what extent this spirit informs the encyclical Amoris Laetitia.

A. ‘Sexuality does not have a particular finality. Its use is pleasurable and a means for expressing love between two persons, not necessarily married to each other’

Ecclesia Dei letter: Mass of Our Lady of Fatima in the Extraordinary Form

By a letter published and dated of today, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei granted to all priests of the Latin Rite (secular or religious) the possibility of celebrating on the centenary of the first main apparition (May 13, 2017) the Mass of Our Lady of Fatima -- it is a Votive Mass of the II Class, using the exact same texts and prayers of the Votive Mass of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 22nd in the Traditional Calendar).

A copy of the letter is published below:

John Vennari, RIP

Traditional Catholics, and the world, lost a good man today. Rorate was fortunate to call John a friend, who many readers knew of through his publication, Catholic Family News. He will be greatly missed. Please pray for the repose of his soul.

JOSEPH JOHN VENNARI (1958-2017) R.I.P.

Dear Friends, Joseph John Vennari died on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 10:46 a.m. E.S.T. It is not only Passion Tuesday, but the 98th anniversary of the death of Blessed Francisco of Fatima - the first Tuesday (the day dedicated weekly to the Holy Face) in April (the month dedicated to the Holy Face).

Can one be at once an impenitent adulterer and in the grace of God? Christ said not, but Francis says yes, and the Supreme Vatican Lawyer, Cardinal Francisco Coccopalmerio, explains how to square the circle. Yes, yes, "scribes and doctors of the law..." -- the true pharisees are on Francis' side.

Translation of the his book (which should have been released in a groundbreaking Vatican press conference, but from which he was absent at the last minute) provided by Andrew Guernsey:

Chapter Eight of the Post-Synodal

Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia

by Francis Cardinal Coccopalmerio

President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts

Translated by Andrew Guernsey

April 2, 2017

[For Academic and Private Usage]

For a guided reading

Chapter Eight of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia is significantly entitled: "Accompanying, discerning and integrating weakness." This part of the document is not very large, because it is composed of only twenty-two numbers, from n. 291 n. 312, but it is very dense and therefore presents greater difficulties for analysis and comprehension. A certain non-organic structure should be added to this, that is, a sequence that is not always in the order of the topics covered.

This is our monthly reminder to please enroll Souls of the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society. We now stand at 79 priests saying weekly or monthly traditional Latin Masses for the Souls. Special Lenten note to Priests: Fathers, looking to do something more this Lent? Want to grow in holiness and fill some of your free time by freeing souls to be with Our Lord? Then sign up for the Purgatorial Society! It's easy. See below for details.

** Click here to download a "fillable" PDF Mass Card to give to the loved ones of the Souls you enroll. It's free for anyone to use. **

Priests: The Souls still need more of you saying Mass for them! Please email me to offer your services. There's nothing special involved -- all you need to do is offer a weekly or monthly TLM with the intention: "For the Souls enrolled in the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society." And we will always keep you completely anonymous unless you request otherwise.

How to enroll souls: please email me at athanasiuscatholic@yahoo.com and submit as follows: "Name, State, Country." If you want to enroll entire families, simply write in the email: "The Jones family, Ohio, USA". Individual names are preferred. Be greedy -- send in as many as you wish and forward this posting to friends as well.

Step by step: Vatican issues Marriage Pastoral Guidelines for SSPX (UPDATED)

UPDATE: SSPX statement, and "deep gratitude"
------------------------------------

From Vatican Radio:

In a letter approved by Pope Francis, Cardinal Gerhard Müller says, “The Holy Father . . . has decided to authorize Local Ordinaries the possibility to grant faculties for the celebration of marriages of faithful who follow the pastoral activity of the Society.” The Pope's decision adopts a proposal by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, both of which are headed by Cardinal Müller.

The new provisions are part of a number of ongoing meetings and initiatives aimed at bringing the Society into full communion; Cardinal Müller’s letter mentions specifically the recent decision of Pope Francis to grant all priests of the Society the faculty to validly administer the Sacrament of Penance to the faithful in order “to ensure the validity and liceity of the Sacrament and allay any concerns on the part of the faithful.”

The grant of faculties for the celebration of marriage is subject to several provisions: “Insofar as possible, the Local Ordinary [that is, normally the local Diocesan Bishop] is to grant the delegation to assist at the marriage to a priest of the Diocese (or in any event, to a fully regular priest), such that the priest may receive the consent of the parties during the marriage rite, followed, in keeping with the liturgy of the Vetus ordo, by the celebration of Mass, which may be celebrated by a priest of the Society.” That is, a priest in good standing is to preside at the celebration of the marriage itself, which in the extraordinary form takes place before the nuptial Mass. The Mass itself may then be celebrated by a priest of the SSPX.

The letter also foresees that circumstances may exist where those provisions are not possible, or where no Diocesan priest is able to receive the consent of the parties. In such cases, the Pope allows the Ordinary to grant faculties to the priest who will celebrate the nuptial Mass.

Cardinal Müller closes his letter expressing his conviction that “in this way any uneasiness of conscience on the part of the faithful who adhere to the Society of St. Pius X as well as any uncertainty regarding the validity of the sacrament of marriage may be alleviated, and at the same time that the process towards full institutional regularization may be facilitated”; and that, to that end, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei “relies” on the cooperation of the prelates of the Episcopal Conferences concerned in this matter.

Below, please find the full text of Cardinal Gerhard Müller’s letter:

Your Eminence,

Your Excellency,

As you are aware, for some time various meetings and other initiatives have been ongoing in order to bring the Society of St. Pius X into full communion. Recently, the Holy Father decided, for example, to grant all priests of said Society the faculty to validly administer the Sacrament of Penance to the faithful (Letter Misericordia et misera, n.12), such as to ensure the validity and liceity of the Sacrament and allay any concerns on the part of the faithful.

"Papalotry" is real

Last month my wife and I visited a Catholic religious store, looking for something to give one of our children as a present for a baptismal anniversary. We found something suitable -- a lovely pewter cross featuring a medallion in the center showing the image of our child's name saint.

It was one of several such pewter crosses, each of them featuring a different saint or archangel. But we were soon horrified to find that one of the pewter crosses at the store had neither a heavenly saint nor an angel. So shocked were we that we took this quick snapshot using the camera on my wife's cellular phone:

The image quality may not be easy for all eyes to make out, but surrounding the image of Pope Francis is this inscription: "Pope Francis, pray for us."

It should not be necessary to explain why this is completely and utterly un-Catholic -- in fact, a grievous offense against all piety and devotion.

The Dialogos Institute, an organization devoted to the study of the patristic heritage in the spirit of Latin and Byzantine Thomism (about which we have reported in the past) is holding its second colloquium 30th June - 1st July 2017 in Ramsgate, England. The topic is “Limbo” and the speakers are Dr Lawrence Feingold, Fr Andrew Pinsent, Dr John A. Demetracopoulos, Fr Johannes Maria Schwarz, and Dr Alyssa Pitstick.

In Rome, as the Romans: the unmerciful Pope is quite "furbo"!

For the Pope who is fond of talking about the “God of surprises”, the recent and extraordinary appearance of unflattering posters both in picture and word plastered all over Rome must have come as a real surprise for him. Beneath an image of the Pope looking not very happy, there was written in the Roman dialect: “Ah, Frankie, you have taken over Congregations, removed priests, decapitated the Order of Malta and The Franciscans of the Immaculate, ignored Cardinals….but where is your mercy?” (My translation.) Those in the know in Rome say that the Vatican has given the Italian Secret Police the mandate to find who is behind this insult to the Pope. With that cast of characters, one demurs at predicting what the chances of the perpetrators being caught are. There has been no naming of the perpetrators to date.

Shortly after Pope Francis was elected, I was in Rome. On the drive from the airport to the city I like to talk to the taxi drivers and get the pulse of what is happening. I asked the driver what he thought of the new Pope. He hesitated for just a few seconds and then said: E furbo. I was quite taken aback by the adjective he used to describe Papa Francesco. Furbo is not easy to translate, but it means clever, stealthy, sly, cunning. Its etymology includes the Latin word fur, which means a thief. I tried to get more out of the taxi driver, but that is all he would say about that topic, so we moved on to the endless opera buffa of the Italian government.

Important: Speaking of Fake News, beware of the following website

Now, this is no April fool's, but quite serious.

Rorate has learned from several different sources in Italy that the recent page "Anonimi della Croce", led by a "friar" named "Fra' Cristoforo" is merely a disinformation website by an agent provocateur, whose sole purpose is to provoke real outbursts of outrage or scandal from pious Catholics out of its fake news and fake rumors.

Though Rorate has never used it as a source, ever, we know people who have and would just like to warn them.

EXCLUSIVE: Francis bans marriages for 50 days

An explosive story is out today, from a new publication out of Rome. We bring you the English language exclusive. So much to unpack in future posts and analysis. For now, we simply reprint the two articles. What a way to kick off April. (Note: Our agreement with the author was that we post this not before Midnight. Since we're on Coordinated Universal Time, our readers in the United States get an early look, technically before April begins at 12a.m.):

All may repost, but you must site Rorate Caeli as the source: