The Masses of Holy Week & Tenebrae — A Publication to Assist in Pre-55 Services

Those who are blessed with access to Holy Week in the Tridentine Rite, that is, the rite celebrated for a thousand years and more prior to Pius XII's changes in the mid-1950s, may find helpful a resource published by Os Justi Press: The Masses of Holy Week & Tenebrae, which contains the liturgy (in Latin with English translation) for Palm Sunday, the Triduum Masses, and the Office of Tenebrae, including complete Gregorian chants. Summary rubrics are indicated. No page turning is required. The book features many medieval illustrations as well.

This second edition features a new cover and, for the first time, full-color printing throughout, which dramatically enhances the beauty of the illuminations found within. Additionally, some typographical errors discovered in the first printing have been corrected.

The Mother of God and salvation - an article on the Vatican Document on the Blessed Virgin

The Mother of God and salvation

by John Lamont

Faithful Catholics have rightly been outraged by the doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis published on November 4, 2025 by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The document was signed by Cardinal Victor Fernández, the Prefect of the Dicastery, and its publication was ordered by Pope Leo XIV. In his address to the Dicastery on January 29th 2026, Pope Leo praised and endorsed the document,  describing it as 'the doctrinal Note Mater Populi fidelis, on certain Marian titles referring to Mary's cooperation in the work of salvation (4 November 2025), which encourages popular Marian devotion, deepening its biblical and theological foundations, while offering precise and important clarifications for Mariology'.

Worldwide Spiritual Bouquet for the Pope and the TLM

With the coming months set to prove pivotal for the Traditional Latin Mass and the cause of Catholic Tradition within the Church, Missae pro Missa hereby announces a new worldwide spiritual bouquet beginning Feb. 22, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter and First Sunday of Lent, to conclude on June 29, Solemnity of Saints Peter & Paul, which follows the next Consistory of Cardinals called by Pope Leo XIV.

The intention of this latest campaign is straightforward: for the Pope to recognize the full freedom of the TLM.

As with our earlier campaigns, we invite all Catholics to participate in four ways:

1. Request Masses to be said for this intention (e.g., through a parish, religious order, or another group). Or if you're a priest, celebrate Masses for this intention.

2. Offer your own hearings of Mass for this intention.

3. Pray rosaries (or undertake other prayers/sacrifices) for this intention.

4. Share this initiative with others.

Please submit your spiritual offerings via the website form. The worldwide totals will be updated daily and displayed on our home page. 

Our goal is to have 10,000 Masses requested and 100,000 rosaries prayed for the above-stated intention throughout these next four months (Feb. 22 - June 29). A Mass intention "for Pope Leo XIV," "for the freedom of the TLM," or for your personal intentions is sufficient--God knows the rest.

We believe the timing of this campaign is providential, falling between two major feasts linked to the Papacy and leading up to the Consistory of Cardinals, during which the liturgy will likely be discussed. Adding importance--and urgency--to the situation is the Society of St. Pius X's announcement of episcopal consecrations for July 1, and talks between the SSPX and the Vatican in the meantime. In short, in the upcoming months the Pope will undoubtedly be faced with the question of the TLM and the place of Tradition within the Church.

Amidst the complexities and uncertainty of the situation, we do not presume to know which specific outcomes will bring about the most good for the Church, for the TLM and Tradition, and ultimately for souls. But we do not need to know. We simply need to trust that God does know the optimal solution, and that He has the power to bring it about--often in His own mysterious way. We just need to ask, and there is no more powerful way to unite our intentions with His than in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

To participate in the spiritual bouquet, please visit: https://www.missaepromissa.com/ 

False Normality and Its Consequences

 

       

By James Baresel

            “Catholics come to church with certain expectations not widely held by earlier generations when it comes to participation in the Church’s rituals. That is largely the result of the Liturgical Movement of the 20th century, which precipitated a major overhaul of the public worship that the Church offers to God.”

Communiqué from the General House: the Society’s response to Rome (SSPX) - Consecrations to go ahead

 Communiqué regarding the response of the General Council of the Society of Saint Pius X to the proposal of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The United States: the "Evil Empire"? Nothing could be Further from the Truth -- by Roberto de Mattei

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Munich

 Corrispondenza Romana

February 18, 2026

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, attending the Security Conference held on February 14 at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich, delivered a broad and detailed speech in which he reaffirmed that the United States and Europe belong to a single civilization and must unite their forces to combat common enemies, both internal and external. And yet, for many conservatives and traditionally-oriented Catholics, the United States represents a kind of new "Evil Empire."

LENT

 

If you please, this Lent, place among your intentions a special personal intention of the editor of Rorate Caeli.

Thank you so much for your readership and kindness.

Meeting between Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and Superior-General of the SSPX: Official Communiqué

 

DICASTERY FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

COMMUNIQUÉ

Regarding the meeting between the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Superior General of the FSSPX

On February 12, 2026, a cordial and sincere meeting took place at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith between the Prefect, His Eminence Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, and the Superior General of the FSSPX (Society of Saint Pius X), the Reverend Don Davide Pagliarani, with the approval of the Holy Father Leo XIV.

The Long Shadow of Vatican II: Ambiguity as Ecclesial Cancer

By the Canon of Shaftesbury

On February 8, Bishop Bernard Fellay of the Society of Saint Pius X delivered a sermon in which he spoke of the necessity for the Society to consecrate new bishops. The purpose of this piece is not to address the merits or challenges of that decision, but rather to focus on some of the problems he identified as plaguing the Church today and how these flow from a reading of the Second Vatican Council that has led to profound confusion—confusion that was aggravated by Pope Francis.

Pope to Spanish Priests: "The authentic nucleus of the priesthood is to be an Alter Christus." - Pontifical University Professor Andrea Grillo: I hate this!

Letter of the Holy Father to the Presbytery of the Archdiocese of Madrid on the occasion of the Presbyteral Assembly “Convivium”

Dear sons,

I am happy to address this letter to you on the occasion of your Presbyteral Assembly and to do so with a sincere desire for fraternity and unity. I thank your Archbishop and, from my heart, each one of you for your willingness to gather as a presbyterate, not only to discuss common issues, but also to support one another in the mission you share.

Op-Ed: Will the SSPX Reach an Agreement with Pope Leo XIV?

by Jan Filip Libicki

The announcement of new episcopal consecrations within the Society of Saint Pius X, followed by a swift reaction from the Vatican, raises a question that has been returning for nearly four decades: can the "Lefebvrists" and the Pope reach a lasting agreement? This time, however, the context is entirely different from that of 1988—both doctrinally and ecclesially.

New novel tells of a pair of priests exiled by their bishop to an ugly, dying parish in the hinterlands — and their unexpected success

Bishop J. Donald Doherty was chuckling at the large map of his diocese that covered most of his desk, its parish churches marked by bright blue crosses, the parish boundaries by dotted blue lines, their schools and the diocesan high school by (of course) little red schoolhouses, the cemeteries by bright green crosses. Near the northern edge of his fief lay a lonely blue cross, circled by him, a moment ago, in heavy black ink. He pressed the intercom button on his phone.

Auberon Waugh on Marcel Lefebvre (1976)

Papal Prejudice

Auberon Waugh

The Spectator

7 August, 1976

Not much excitement has been apparent in Britain after the Pope's decision, announced on 25 July, to suspend Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre from all priestly duties under pain of excommunication. Few newspapers even bothered to mention it. The Archbishop, after all, resides in Switzerland, if of French origin, a former Archbishop of Dakar; and the internal squabbles of a foreign organisation like the Roman Catholic Church can scarcely expect much precedence. So it may be—I only say it 'may' be—that the early stages of what will later develop into one of the great ironies of history have passed more or less unnoticed.

Short Note: The Francis Credibility Problem (SSPX) - Who can trust any deal now?

Rorate will eventually weigh in on the probable consecrations of the Society of Saint Pius X. What we know at the moment is very limited, especially from the Holy See, which has remained very circumspect.

After not having made any consecrations during the Francis years, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) should, one would hope, display more patience towards Leo XIV. He is relatively young, and has arrived not long ago. 

But Francis left one extremely difficulty legacy to his successor: the collapse of Vatican credibility.

Interview of the Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X on the Consecrations

 From the SSPX news website:

“Suprema lex, salus animarum”

Urgent - SSPX Superior General going back to Rome for Talks

 Communique of the General House of the 

Society of Saint Pius X:

Following the announcement on February 2nd of future episcopal consecrations for the Society of Saint Pius X, His Eminence Cardinal Fernández wrote to the Superior General to propose a meeting in Rome. The Superior General accepted this proposal. The meeting will take place on Thursday, February 12th.

International Una Voce Federation (FIUV) on Future SSPX Consecrations

 FIUV is the largest international association of diocesan Catholics attached to the Traditional Mass.

This is their statement on current events:

Una Voce International and the Latin Mass Society have heard with concern the announcement by the Superior General of the Society of St Pius X (SSPX), Fr Davide Pagliarani, that the SSPX will carry out Episcopal consecrations on 1st July this year.

Organizing Pontifical Masses: A Call for Help

Urgent - SSPX Consecrations - Full Sermon of the Superior-General of the SSPX, Fr. Davide Pagliarani

[For the earlier news, read here; the news was delivered by Fr. Pagliarani in the seminary of Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, France, in a Mass for Candlemas; translation from the original French -- apologies for any mistake made in rush.]

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Dear confreres, dear seminarians, dear sisters and dear faithful, what a joy to be able to bless the habit of the 22 new seminarians. 

URGENT - Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) Announces Future Consecrations for July 1st, 2026

A news item of the SSPX; full communique at the bottom:

On this February 2, 2026, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, Father Davide Pagliarani, Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, during the ceremony of the imposition of the cassocks, which he presided over at the International Seminary of Saint-Curé-d’Ars, in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, France, publicly announced his decision to entrust to the bishops of the Fraternity the task of proceeding with new episcopal consecrations, on July 1st next.

SEPTUAGESIMA: In The Beginning

 

Septuagesimatide begins today. The lessons for Matins introduce the theme of the penitential pre-lenten season of Septuagesima: Creation and Fall, and Original Sin; and God's intervention in History to purify mankind through a remnant in an ark (Sexagesima week) and to choose a People for himself; and the will of the unfathomable Divinity to reveal himself through his chosen people of Israel; and the Mystery of the Incarnation, through which the promise to Abraham ("in thee shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed", First Lesson in the Matins for Quinquagesima Sunday) would be fulfilled by the Divine Son of the Blessed Virgin ("I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel", Third Lesson in the Matins for Wednesday in Septuagesima week).

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:

Leo XIV, quoting Mother Teresa: “The Greatest Destroyer of Peace is Abortion.”

 [T]here will be no peace without ending the war that humanity wages against itself when it discards the weak, excludes the poor, and remains indifferent to refugees and the oppressed. Only those who care for the smallest can do truly great things. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, saint of the poor and Nobel Peace Prize winner, said in this regard that “the greatest destroyer of peace is abortion” (cf. Address at the National Prayer Breakfast, February 3, 1994).