I’m in church. I
start reciting the Rosary in Latin and a
man approaches me.
He says:
-
If
I were you I’d steer clear of that.
Looking at him,
I ask:
The Franciscans of the Immaculate: A courageous voice speaks out
Father Paolo M. Siano
Corrispondenza Romana
January 24, 2018
A few days ago, on January 20th there was an important anniversary in the history of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (FI). On that date six years ago (2012), in our Roman convent on Via Boccea, a meeting took place between the then General Council of the FI and five friars (two Americans and three Italians) opponents of Father Stefano Manelli, founder and Minster General [of the Order].
Along with other professors of the then FI Seminary and those in charge of formation, I was invited by Father Manelli to take part in the event. The meeting, which lasted the entire day in two sessions, was shocking for the amount of vehemence and malicious attacks made against Father Manelli.
Rorate on the Road: Mater Dei (FSSP) in Texas
Once in a while when we’re on the road, we like to highlight churches that don’t get much attention, at least with our global audience. Today, we had the pleasure of assisting at a Sung Mass at Mater Dei Catholic Church, run by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), in Irving, Texas.
The beginning (Septuagesima) of this year’s early Easter cycle was on full display as the Christmas decorations were joined by the purple tabernacle veil and vestments.
There are five Sunday Masses at Mater Dei and we’re told they’re all packed. The 9 a.m. today was standing room only. To accommodate the demand, they are now raising money to expand the church. If you will to contribute, check out this page and contact the parish (CLICK HERE).
See below for a rendering of the new church:
Quid est Veritas?
Section on Catechesis
Radio
Roma Libera
Quid est Veritas? What is Truth? The question, addressed to Our Lord
Jesus Christ by the Procurator Pontius Pilate in the praetorium of Jerusalem,
resounds down through the centuries and calls every man to come out of himself
and question the nature of Reality, on that which is the proper object of his
intelligence and of the very reason for his existence.
‘Radioromalibera’: First Italian Catholic online radio launches
The first Italian Catholic news bulletin radio on-line has been started up. Audio
and video news broadcasts everyday in addition to in-depth study in Catechesis,
Spirituality and Catholic Culture.
Radioromalibera.org presents a new way of ‘forming and informing’ by making
the most of all the potentials of a multi-media platform: a click is all you
need on your smart-phone, tablet or computer to gain access to texts, articles,
comments, audios. Podcasts, bulletins, videos and lots of news, news that you
might not be able to find elsewhere. The content is sound and analyzes and interprets
our modern times in the light of the faith with articles and programmes on
catechism, spirituality and liturgy, all of which are no longer taught in our
parishes.https://www.radioromalibera.org/. is
always and everywhere present, all over the world…
Septuagesima: In the beginning
The reality of Original Sin ("I am the Immaculate Conception") and the great need for penitence in our times ("Penance! Penance! Penance!") were also the messages of the memorable events which began on February 11, 1858:
Norcia summer theology program, June 17-28
From June 17–28, 2018, the Albertus Magnus Center for Scholastic Studies, in partnership with the Monks of Norcia, will hold its seventh summer theology program in Norcia, Italy.
This summer’s program will be “Human Suffering and Divine Providence: Thomas’s Commentary on the Book of Job.” We will read and discuss St. Thomas Aquinas’s Commentary on Job, considered one of the saint’s finest Biblical commentaries, dedicated to a close analysis of an Old Testament book that has always been a favorite with preachers, moralists, and artists.
Guest Op-Ed: A vision of the Church in 1 Timothy, through Aquinas
By Veronica A. Arntz
“I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that, if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. Great, indeed, we confess, is the mystery of your religion” (1 Timothy 3:14-16, RSV-CE).
These verses of St. Paul, in
addition to the previous passages, reveal very succinctly the nature and soul
of the Church. Paul first outlines the different roles within the Body of
Christ—men and women, bishops, and deacons—and then describes the source of the
Church’s unity, namely, the Incarnate Word of God. Reflecting on these passages
of Paul, with the trustworthy guide of St. Thomas Aquinas, will shed light on
how we should respond to the current situation in our Church. The Church today
is indeed in need of a reminder of how she should act as the “household of
God,” given how easily we fall into sin, which divides the Church and prevents
her from being truly unified as the Body of Christ.
In this letter, St. Paul first
talks about men and women, or the laity, in the Church. St. Paul writes, “I
desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without
anger or quarrelling” (1 Tim 2:8). St. Paul thus desires that all the men
should pray, and this prayer, according to Thomas, is marked by three
characteristics: “that it be assiduous, pure, and quiet” (71). Mental prayer
can occur anywhere, which is why men are no longer required to pray only in
Jerusalem. Moreover, the prayer ought to be pure, which means that by our
external signs, we are giving glory to God.
As Thomas explains, “For genuflections
and the like are not of themselves pleasing to God, but only because by them,
as by signs of humility, a man is internally humble” (72). Man’s actions in
prayer are a sign of his humility and thereby purity before God. Finally,
prayer should be quiet, or without anger, both toward God and toward neighbor;
thus, real prayer is guided by charity. A man cannot truly pray unless he
deeply possesses the virtue of charity, which is expressed in the twofold
commandment of love of God and love of neighbor. Thus, we can see from the
beginning that, for Paul, prayer is at the center of the Church. The Church
must pray to God in humility, begging for his grace and his mercy to transcend
our weak human nature.
Mariawald Trappist Abbey Closed Down -- Summorum Undone by Current Vatican Regime
The Trappist Monastery of Mariawald, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, was one of the very few monastic houses in the world to make use of the provision present in Article 3 of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum that allowed for the whole conversion of such a house to the exclusive use of the Traditional Rite.
We covered this momentous news in 2008 (see our 2012 post), and in 2015 we published the translation of a great interview granted by the abbot responsible for this change, Dom Josef Vollberg.
The traditional turn at Mariawald was too much for the current vindictive regime installed in Rome, and they forced the abbot out in 2016, as we also covered at the time.
Now, the inevitable outcome arrived: as GloriaTV reports, the old abbey is being closed and completely dismantled. What two world wars could not destroy, Bergoglianism could:
De Mattei: Minimalism: the present-day sickness of Catholicism
Roberto de Mattei
Corrispondenza Romana
January 17, 2018
In Italy recently, two videos have been circulating online which give pause for thought. The first replicates the words of Don Fredo Olivero, Rector of the Church of San Rocco in Turin, uttered during Midnight Mass. “Do you know why I’m not going to say the Creed? Because I don’t believe it!” Amidst the laughter of the faithful, the priest continues: “As if anyone understands it – but as for myself after many years I’ve realized that it was something I didn’t understand and couldn’t accept. Let’s sing something else that presents the essential things of the faith.” The priest then substituted the Creed with the song “Dolce Sentire” from the film “Brother Sun, Sister Moon”.
Aldo Maria Valli interviews Pope Gregory the Great
January 16, 2018
Good day Your Holiness.
Good day to you too.
Might I disturb your Holiness for a moment?
Of course.
Your are Pope Gregory, aren’t you? Gregory The First, called Gregory The Great?
In person.
Please pardon my boldness, but I’d like to interview Your Holiness.
Interview?
Yes, just ask you a few questions.
Go ahead, I’ll be happy to answer them if I’m able.
Thank you, Your Holiness. I don’t know if you’ve heard that the Equestrian Order carrying your Holiness’ name was given to a Dutch lady….
Newest U.S. basilica offers the TLM
His Excellency Michael Burbidge, bishop of Arlington, Virginia, in the U.S. announced this morning minor basilica status has been approved for the parish of Saint Mary in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.
The parish offers the traditional Latin Mass once a month, in a diocese where 15 of the 70 diocesan parishes offer a TLM, the highest percentage in the world (up from zero parishes as recently as 2006).
Rorate attended the announcement today, the culmination of an effort aided by supporters of the TLM at the first Catholic parish in the Commonwealth of Virginia. One of the many justifications for minor basilica status was George Washington's financial contribution of $1,200 (in 2018 dollars) at a 1788 fundraiser for the construction of the church, hosted by his former aide-de-camp, Colonel John Fitzgerald.
De Mattei: Is “deep sedation” a masked form of assisted suicide?
Roberto de Mattei
Corrispondenza Romana
January 10, 2017
Marina Ripa di
Meana, the provocative exponent of the Italian jet-set who died in Rome on
January 6, 2018, chose to die through deep palliative sedation, manifesting
her last will and testament in a video: “After
Christmas my health conditions precipitated. Breathing, speaking, eating and
getting up: everything now is difficult for me, and causes me unbearable pain:
the tumour has now taken complete possession of my body. Not of my mind though,
or my conscience. I telephoned Maria Antonietta Farina Coscioni, a person I
trust and esteem because of her personal story, to tell her that the end indeed
had arrived. I told her of my interest
in assisted suicide in Switzerland. She told me that I could go the Italian way
of palliative treatment through deep sedation. I, who have travelled with my
mind and my body all my life, didn’t know about this way. I want to launch this
message to say that even here at home or in hospital, with a tumor, people have
to know that they can choose to return to the earth without [having to go
through] ulterior and useless suffering. “Let it be known. Let it be known.”
Benedicite, glacies et nives, Domino . . .
Father Brian Hess offers Holy Mass ad orientem amidst the beauty of God's Creation upon an altar made of snow in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, during this week's winter expedition for the freshman class of Wyoming Catholic College.
Post title from the Benedicite, the Canticle of the Three Hebrew Children (Daniel chapter 3) -- "Bless ye the Lord, ice and snow . . . ."
Photo reposted from Diocese of Cheyenne's Facebook page to which it was supplied by Father Hess.
Basking in the glow of Epiphany: The wedding feast at Cana
In the giant new lectionary, poster-child of the liturgical reform, we find very strange things if we take pains to scratch beneath the surface. One of the most surprising, to me, was the discovery that the passage from the second chapter of the Gospel of St. John about the wedding feast at Cana—among the most picturesque, moving, and theologically profound passages in all the Gospels—is read only once every three years in the Novus Ordo (in “Year C”). In contrast, it is read every year in the old Mass, on the Second Sunday after Epiphany, where it has appeared for centuries without interruption.
March for Life TLMs in Washington, D.C.
Friday, 19 January 2018, will be the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. Pro-life speeches begin on the National Mall at 12 Street, NW, at 12 noon, followed by the peaceful walk up Constitution Avenue to the U.S. Supreme Court. Last year Vice President Mike Pence addressed the March for Life in person -- the first time any of America's top two leaders has done so in person. It is expected there will again be very high-level officials speaking in person at the March for Life at noon. (Get there early.)
UPDATE; 17 Jan.: President Trump will address the March for Life via satellite. Speaker Paul Ryan will address the March for Life in person.
Many, many American Catholics who attend the traditional Latin Mass will be at the March for Life. To that end, Saint Mary, Mother of God church at 5th and H streets, NW, becomes the de facto hub for the day (and Sunday morning at 9 a.m. for a Missa Cantata). Several visiting priests each year offer traditional Latin Masses at the four altars in the church on the day of the March for Life.
There will be at least four traditional Latin Masses at Saint Mary's on Friday, 19 January:
1st Latin Mass in Dallas Cathedral in decades -- PLUS: Help build new FSSP church for its largest apostolate
On December 30, 2017, the Rev. Fr. Thomas Longua, FSSP, offered the first traditional Latin Mass at the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Dallas, Texas. Fr. Longua is the pastor of Mater Dei in Irving, Texas, an apostolate of the Fraternity of St. Peter under the diocese of Dallas.
Dubia answered: Warning for priests treating afflicted souls, guidance on blessings by deacons
The following responses to dubia by the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" (PCED) was provided to Rorate by a source with a deep concern for the spiritual welfare of priests. We post the responses below, with an explanatory note following it, written by our source. There's also an interesting response from the PCED to whether deacons can bless using the traditional Rituale. We have edited the document only to protect the privacy of the priest who submitted the dubia:
Priests that pray over afflicted souls should be aware of a potential open door.
Sermon for the Epiphany: A King of Orient tells us what the journey to Bethlehem was like
by Fr. Richard Cipolla
From the Gospel: “And they fell down and worshipped Him.”
It was one of the worst trips I had ever taken. The snow, the cold, and then rain as soon as we got out of the mountains. They robbed us at one of the inns; in some towns the food was not even edible. But we went on, somehow we did not give this all up, for it was still there, that star that we had seen that night many week ago now. We searched our charts, we consulted others, and that star—there was nothing like it we had ever seen. And so we set out, we set out in some sort of faith, looking for something, for surely that star was meant to announce something great. We were not even sure what we were looking for. Some said a king was to be born in the land of the Jews. That is what one of my companions had heard, and it was this king that we set out to find. Or was it?
Mass for Vocations at the Pantheon
Mass will be offered in Rome at the Basilica of St. Mary and All Martyrs on the Feast of St. Polycarp, January 26, at 6:00 pm. The Basilica is housed in the historic Pantheon - a temple erected by the ancient Romans to venerate all pagan gods. It has been a Catholic church since A.D. 609 when Byzantine emperor Phocas donated it to Pope Boniface IV who had it consecrated. The Mass will be offered by Fr. Matthieu Raffray of the Institute of the Good Shepherd. Those who will be in Rome at the time are urged to show their support for this worthy intention by assisting at the Mass.
Archbishop Sample to offer TLM at basilica shrine in D.C.
A few months ago we shared the news on a pontifical High Mass to be celebrated on 28 April 2018 in the upper church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. We are pleased to now be able to make public the celebrant, His Excellency Alexander Sample, the archbishop of Portland, Oregon.
[UPDATE]: A new Mass -- and an amazing story
Rorate disclaimer: as it has happened in such occasions in the past, our readers know that we post information we consider useful even if we deeply disagree, in fundamental and non-negotiable principles, with their authors. That is the case, for instance, when we post encouraging news from the Eastern Orthodox. Or Sedevacantists.
***
By Rev. Anthony Cekada
In an August 31, 2017 article on Rorate, I told the rather amazing story of how at age 15 our young organist, Andrew Richesson, had composed an impressive and stirring musical setting of the Ordinary of Mass.
At the time the article appeared, only two sections of the Mass, the Kyrie and the Sanctus, had been recorded by a choir. For the rest of the work, Rorate readers were provided with a computer-generated audio of the score on Andrew’s YouTube channel.
I am happy to report that our choir at St. Gertrude the Great Church in West Chester, Ohio, has now recorded the entire work. We premiered it at Midnight Mass on Christmas 2017, and sang it again the following Sunday, December 31.
Guest Op-Ed: Epiphany reflections on the Christian vocation
By Veronica A. Arntz
The Gospels tell us very little
about the wise men, or the Magi, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and
myrrh, who came from the East to worship the newborn Christ Child. While tradition
says that there were three of them, named Balthasar, Melchior, and Jaspar, we
do not even have knowledge of that from the Scriptures.[1]
What we do know is that these wise men, who were Gentiles, followed a star in
the heavens so that they could come to Bethlehem to worship Christ, the King of
Israel. In reflecting on the event of the Magi, we can learn something about
our own vocation, namely, that God calls us out of our comfort to pursue him in
a radical way, following the royal road of the Cross.
EVENT: Pontifical High Mass with Bishop Libasci for the Epiphany
The first pontifical Mass in the U.S. Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, since the creation of the novus ordo will be offered tomorrow on the feast of the Epiphany of our Lord.
His Excellency Peter A. Libasci, the local ordinary, has been a great friend of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter there, inviting them into his diocese in 2016 and visiting the newly established personal parish of Saint Stanislaus in Nashua, New Hampshire, several times, even sitting in choir on Good Friday last year.
EVENT: Pontifical Mass with Card. Burke for the Epiphany - Tomorrow, in Rome
On the Feast of the Epiphany, Saturday 6 January 2018 at 11 a.m., His Eminence the Most Reverend Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke will celebrate a Pontifical Mass at the Parish of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) in Rome, Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini.
#TBT: Lex orandi, lex credendi
On "Throw Back Thursday," a gentle reminder that none of what's happening during this pontificate should come as a surprise to you, as it has never been a surprise to us.
Pope Francis and the Perplexed Secularists
Bergoglio has been criticized by traditionalists for his Christmas homily, but over the years some [noted] secularists have raised some perplexity about the Pontiff’s actions
Francesco Boezi
12/29/2017
Pope Francis is at the center of controversy because of his Christmas
homily. His combination of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem for the Birth
of Jesus and the theme of immigrants has been questioned by traditionalists.
Reminder: Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society
This is our monthly reminder to please enroll Souls of the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society. Over the last 30 days we've added one new wonderful priest dedicated to bringing relief to loved ones enrolled by our readers. We now stand at 86 priests saying weekly or monthly traditional Latin Masses for the Souls. Come on Fathers, let's get this to 100!
** 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.
For the Record: Full translation of Benedict XVI letter of support to Müller after dismissal by Francis -- plus: Ratzinger explains the liturgical revolution
A happy 2018 to all our readers!
Your Eminence, dear Confrere
Your seventieth birthday is approaching and even if I’m no longer able to write a true scientific contribution to the miscellany that will be dedicated to you on this occasion, I’d like nonetheless to participate with some words of greeting and gratitude.
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