DC basilica shrine rector under investigation

Another high-profile cleric in the Archdiocese of Washington is under investigation.  To no one's surprise (except the Washington Post and other mainstream media) Monsignor Walter Rossi, the current rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, is the subject of a "full forensic investigation" by the Diocese of Scranton (Rossi's home diocese) and the Archdiocese of Washington (where Rossi works at the basilica shrine).

The issue of the affairs of Walter Rossi has been pushed for at least a year by investigative reporter George Neumayr.  This week a question was asked directly -- and in public -- about Rossi to the new DC Archbishop, Wilton Gregory, at a "Theology on Tap" event. The next day an investigation was announced.

[Ah, such memories of the news about high-ranking clergy that can be made at DC Theology on Tap events.]

So far, former DC cardinal-archbishop (Mr.) Theodore McCarrick has been defrocked after years of bishops, dioceses and the mainstream media covering for him. His successor, Donald Wuerl, was forced into retirement as a result of years of scandal. The former rector of the basilica shrine in DC, Michael Bransfield, was removed as bishop of Wheeling-Charleston due to scandal, and his basilica shrine successor, Walter Rossi, is now under investigation by two dioceses. And then there's this mess stemming from DC, starring Rossi's close priest-friend, co-featuring the bishop of Trenton who formerly headed Catholic University in, of course, Washington.

Fontgombault Sermons for the Assumption: Vow of Louis XIII; and Mass of the Day - "All want to question the Dogmas of the Church, but no one is in doubt about the dogmas of democracy."

The Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Father Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

August 14-15, 2019

Sermon at Vespers, before the procession of the Vow of Louis XIII

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

On the evening of this day, we are going on a procession in the honor of Mary, to abide by the vow of Louis XIII.

Let us pray for our country, which is in such a perilous situation, and especially for the young people whose education and training, both of affection, ethical, and moral, is with each passing day more and more difficult.

If all of us should be the children of Mary, how much more our country, France, should enter the Mother of Jesus’ school, Mary, who has always answered “Yes” to the plan of God, and is therefore the perfect teacher for nations and hearts!

In the Book of Genesis we find the reflection of the plan of God: man and woman, created in the image of God, are meant to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, making it bear through their work beautiful fruits. Today, man arrogates to himself the rights of his Maker, while feigning to ignore the consequences of his errors: human relationships are marked by violence, enslavement, bondage, possession of the other one, unto the most sacred domain, which is human love, a place of fecundity.

Whereas it is good form to cast doubt on the dogmas of the Catholic Church, which are founded on the witness of the Scripture and have been preciously kept by centuries of Christendom, no one seems to be in any doubt concerning the dogma of democracy: establishing as the source of the executive and legislative powers the person or persons who will have been approved by the will of the majority, is guaranteed to save the nation and ensure its happiness. 

Yet, casting an honest glance on the recent history of the Western world and on the state of today’s society is not that reassuring.

In his Message to the Youth of the World for the 21st World Youth Day (April 9th, 2006), Benedict XVI wrote:

It is not easy to recognize and find authentic happiness in this world in which we live, where people are often held captive by the current ways of thinking. They may think they are “free”, but they are being led astray and become lost amid the errors or illusions of aberrant ideologies. “Freedom itself needs to be set free” (Veritatis splendor, n. 86), and the darkness in which mankind is groping needs

to be illuminated.

Setting free freedom, such is the key of happiness: setting free freedom, so that it may be responsible, fair, and true. Today, children are conditioned from the very first years in their lives by the contact with death-bringing ideologies, which refuse the human condition such as it was willed by his Maker.

O Our Lady, look after the youth, defend and protect the purity of their hearts and bodies, threatened from all sides by the Evil One and the ideas of the world. Lead their hearts towards all that is good and holy, and pour out in them a living and trustful faith in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, King and Lord, as well as a deep love for thy maternal Heart. Amen.

***

Sermon for the Mass on the Feast of the Assumption

Beatam me dicent omnes generationes.

All generations shall call me blessed.

(Lk 1:48)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
My dearly beloved Sons,

The Feast of the Assumption 2019: The Eternal Magnificat

RADIO MESSGE OF HIS HOLINESS PIUS XII

PRAYER FOR THE CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH AND THE HUMAN RACE TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY 

SATURDAY,OCTOBER 31, 1942

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Help of Christians, Refuge of the human race, Victress in all the battles for God! Supplicant, we prostrate before Thy throne, beseeching mercy and certain of receiving graces, opportune aid and defense in the present calamities; not by any merit of our own, which we do not presume, but solely because of the immense goodness of Thy Maternal Heart.

To Thee, to Thy Immaculate Heart, in this tragic hour of human history, we entrust and consecrate ourselves - not only in union with the Holy Church, Mystical Body of Thy Jesus, which is suffering and bleeding in many parts and in many ways afflicted - but with the entire world harrowed by ferocious discords, parched in a fire of hatred, victim of its own iniquity.

May your heart be moved by so much material and moral ruin; so much pain;  of so many fathers, mothers, spouses, siblings and innocent children in anguish; so many young  lives cut short; so many bodies lacerated in the horrendous slaughter; so many tortured souls in agony that many risk being lost for all eternity. 

Guest Op-ed by a Priest: How a tiny minority of heterodox lay people can ruin Catholic restoration in a parish

It only takes a "Dirty Half Dozen."

By the Rev. Fr. Donald Kloster

St. Mary

Norwalk, Connecticut

About 10 years ago now, I was reading an article by a Protestant Minister who was chronicling the inordinate power of a few, 5-6 individuals, to get rid of (fired or reassigned) any clergy member or parish employee. Time and again, he said he'd witnessed even the pastor removed at the hands of certain well motivated members of the Church in question.

These small groups tend to stick together through the process of ousting their target even though previously they may have never been very close or even known one another. They have a common goal and they know that if they stay focused, the vast majority of the church membership will not get involved. Even worse, the small group knows they just need to invest more time into their ouster plans than the average parishioner plans to spend in a limited and/or short lived defense.

Rorate on the Road ... in Weston, West Virginia

Rorate was on the road yesterday with a stop in Weston, West Virginia. Who would have thought that surrounded by hundreds of miles of mountains we'd find St. Patrick's, a gem of a church, offering the traditional Latin Mass every Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

While everyone hears about hardship in small towns in West Virginia, this church, run by the great Fr. James DeViese, has been wonderfully maintained and preserved since 1914. 

Rorate readers: Special Discount for New Romanitas Press Books about Mary and Sacramentals

Romanitas Press has just republished two classics of the 1950s from the late American-priest, Fr. Arthur Tonne: Feasts of Our Lady (1951) and Talks on the Sacramentals (1950).

In celebration of this publishing event, Romanitas Press is offering exclusively to Rorate Caeli readers a special discount price ($2 off) for each book until midnight of August 31, 2019.

Fr. Tonne tended to be homiletic aids for priests. His writing-style is both engaging and instructive, ingeniously employing short stories to prove a spiritual point.

In Feasts of Our Lady, Father (later Msgr.) Tonne addresses 50 Marian feasts from the traditional Roman Missal, some of which are particular to a local or religious calender (e.g., the Franciscan Order), and 2 talks for Mother's Day. The importance of being acquainted with the feasts of the Blessed Mother is explained thus by the author:

"When we realize how good Mary has been to us and to the world, when we realize that she is a merciful, powerful and effective Advocate at the throne of God, we will pledge anew our loyalty to her."

This 162-page book can be yours for $11.50 (plus tax & shipping)BUY HERE.

Talks on the Sacramentals explains 59 sacramentals of the Roman Catholic Church, from the Sign of the Cross, to Holy Water, to even obscure ones such as the Blessing of Silkworms!

Catholics often overlook the important role that the Church's sacramentals play in their sanctification, but as Fr. Tonne stresses:

"Do we have to use sacramentals? Does a Catholic have to wear a scapular, or use holy water, or pray the Rosary? Strictly speaking, no. The sacraments are necessary for salvation; the sacramentals are not necessary. Nevertheless, the prayers, pious objects, sacred signs and ceremonies of Mother Church are means to salvation."

This incredible 194-page resource on Catholic sacramentals can be yours for $12.50 (plus tax & shipping). BUY HERE

The Pope praises Greta and Ursula von der Leyen but forgets Christ

The interview by the Pontiff to La Stampa is a unique occasion for getting involved in politics

Camillo Langone

IL FOGLIO

August 10, 2019

Feast of St. Lawrence

St. Lawrence martyr, the stars are falling*, governments are falling**, superstars are falling (Alain Delon’s stroke) and the Holy Father is falling yet again.

Interviewed by La Stampa, he praises Ursula von der Leyen, patroness of Sodom, homosexual unions and adoptions. And once again he praises Greta the Papessa of a pagan religion. In such a shamelessly, political interview, the one ending up on the gridiron is Christ - not mentioned even once, not even out of good Jesuit decency. 

Pope grants extensive interview -- God left unmentioned

The Bishop of Rome granted today an extensive interview to Italian daily La Stampa, aligned with his policies due to the influence of its former columnist and current papal journalistic czar Andrea Tornielli.

The interview deals mainly with two issues: the European Union and the dangers of "sovereignism"; and the "Amazon Synod". The Pope says a woman (Ursula von der Leyen, upcoming European Commission President) will bring the EU back to the spirit of its "Founding Fathers"; and he says the priestly ordination of married men ("viri probati") is a minor issue in the Amazon Synod, because it is just "one paragraph" of the synodal document.

Marie Reine du Canada Traditional Pilgrimage: August 31-Seprember 2, 2019

The 16th annual Marie Reine du Canada pilgrimage from Lanoraie, Quebec to the miraculous shrine of Notre Dame du Cap will take place Aug 31-Sept 2, 2019.

It is an arduous 100KM (62 miles) walk along the St. Lawrence River in the footsteps of the North American Martyrs. Pilgrims from Ontario, Quebec and the United States are served en route by priests of the Fraternity of Saint Peter. Mass is celebrated daily in the traditional Roman Rite. This year's theme is Heroes of the Counter Reformation.

Registration: www.mariereine.ca. Marie Reine du Canada is a lay-led apostolate of St Clement Parish, Ottawa (FSSP).

De Mattei: The John Paul II Institute has fallen. But has it fallen with honour?

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

August 7, 2019

In the momentous battle presently going on inside the Church a tower has fallen: The Institute of John Paul II.  So as to contextualize the event, the article by George Weigel which carries the title - The Vandals sack Rome again”* is helpful.  According to Weigel, after the Second Vatican Council  a “War of the Conciliar Succession” opened between “two groups of previously-allied reformist theologians”, identified by two periodicals, Concilium and Communio: the former ultra-progressive, the latter moderate. At stake was the battle “for the control of faculty slots in theology departments around the world”.

The election of John Paul II, who appointed Joseph Ratzinger Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, marked the predominance of the moderates over the extremists. The latter, from 1978 onwards, found themselves “on the outs in the great game of ecclesiastical politics – even though they continued to maintain an iron grip on most theological faculty appointments and on a lot of theological publishing”. John Paul II – the American writer explains – did not purge the ecclesiastic universities of progressive professors, but instead promoted the foundation of new institutes like the Ateneo di Santa Croce dell’Opus Dei (and we’d add: Regina Apostolorum  of  the Legions of Christ). Pope Wojtyla was in fact “quietly confident that good coinage – good theology – would eventually drive out bad ethical coinage”.

Transfiguration: "The miracle of our transfiguration is accomplished in Catholic doctrine"

Assumpsit Iesus Petrum, et Iacobum, et Ioannem fratrem eius, et duxit illos in montem excelsum seorsum: et transfiguratus est ante eos. Et resplenduit facies eius sicut sol: vestimenta autem eius facta sunt alba sicut nix. (Matthew xvii, 1-2: "Jesus took Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: and He was transfigured before them. And His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became white as snow.")

____________________________

It is easy for me... to show that Catholic doctrine enjoys a superhuman moral efficacy, even as a consequence of the interaction which it keeps between man and God. Now, in virtue of what does Catholic doctrine operate this superhuman transformation in the soul? Is it directly? Is it simply because it says to us, "Be humble, be chaste, be apostles, be brethren"?

Ah..., but everyone says this to us more or less earnestly: there is not a man steeped in pride who has not invoked the humility of others; not a man drowned in sensuality who was not invoked the purity of his victims; not a man who has not invoked apostleship to propagate his ideas, and fraternity to establish his empire! But the ear of man remains closed to those invitations of selfishness, or to those dreams of reason; it listens to them without hearing; it hears, without obeying.

First-time retreats in the USA given by the Benedictine monks of Notre Dame Priory (Australia)

It is rare enough to find a good retreat master, and rarer still one who will offer Mass, hear Confessions, and lead hours of the Divine Office in their traditional forms. That is why these upcoming men’s and women’s 5-day retreats are such a great opportunity for Catholics in the USA.

An Experience of Horror: "My car broke down, and I went to the nearest Novus Ordo..."

The following is a cri de coeur from Bill Riccio, a man who has been so instrumental in keeping alive the Traditional Roman Mass since the Indult granted by Pope John Paul II and then within the freedom of Pope Benedict XVI's Summorum Pontificum. Bill has taught so very many priests, including myself, especially in the Northeast states of the U.S., the Traditional Roman Mass. He has traveled to all parts of the United States to teach priests the Traditional Mass. Bill's car broke down this morning, and he could not get to St. Mary's in Norwalk, Connecticut, where he functions as MC at the Solemn Mass. And so he went to his local parish church. And the following is what he experienced. It is a most sobering and realistic experience of the state of Catholic worship today.

It’s been said that, “God has a great sense of humor.” That, I hope was the reason a series of events happened this past Sunday morning. That way, I could have some semblance of understanding. You see, I had to attend my local parish church and it made me realize the liturgical bubble I’m in. It also made me realize, I want my bubble, and I like my bubble.

Francis is Inspiring Many Good Priests and Bishops

Je te montrerai le chemin du ciel

Today, the Holy See released Francis' "Letter to Priests", on the occasion of the 160th anniversary of the death of Saint John Vianney, patron of Parish Priests.

And this week, we witnessed in person the testimony of many priests, and the occasional bishop, who have been deeply inspired by Francis. Yes, indeed! The great grief and confusion coming from Rome is inspiring many good priests, and even the occasional bishop, to discover and cherish the deepest roots of Catholic thought and devotion.

For the Record: "Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to Priests"

Dear Brothers,

A hundred and sixty years have passed since the death of the holy Curé of Ars, whom Pope Pius XI proposed as the patron of parish priests throughout the world.[1] On this, his feast day, I write this letter not only to parish priests but to all of you, my brother priests, who have quietly “left all behind” in order to immerse yourselves in the daily life of your communities. Like the Curé of Ars, you serve “in the trenches”, bearing the burden of the day and the heat (cf. Mt 20:12), confronting an endless variety of situations in your effort to care for and accompany God’s people. I want to say a word to each of you who, often without fanfare and at personal cost, amid weariness, infirmity and sorrow, carry out your mission of service to God and to your people. Despite the hardships of the journey, you are writing the finest pages of the priestly life.

Some time ago, I shared with the Italian bishops my worry that, in more than a few places, our priests feel themselves attacked and blamed for crimes they did not commit. I mentioned that priests need to find in their bishop an older brother and a father who reassures them in these difficult times, encouraging and supporting them along the way.[2]

As an older brother and a father, I too would like in this letter to thank you in the name of the holy and faithful People of God for all that you do for them, and to encourage you never to forget the words that the Lord spoke with great love to us on the day of our ordination. Those words are the source of our joy: “I no longer call you servants… I call you friends” (Jn 15:15).[3]

PAIN

“I have seen the suffering of my people” (Ex 3:7)

Event: Special Solemn High Mass in Minnesota

On August 15th @ 7.30 p.m., in honor of the Feast of the Assumption, and commemorating the Anniversary of the church's Consecration, the parish of St. Mary, Help of Christians, in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, will be offering a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

The Celebrant for the Mass will be the Pastor of St. Mary's, Msgr. Eugene Lozinski. The Deacon will be the Rev. Mr. John Hayes, a transitional deacon of the Diocese of New Ulm; serving as Sub-deacon will be the Rev. Aaron Johanneck, Director of the Diocesan Office of Worship.

The Ordinary for the Mass will be Mozart's 'Coronation' Mass in C, K.317, sung by the Sleepy Eye Mozart Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by guest conductor Mr. Kevin Allen, newly-appointed Director of Sacred Music at St. John Cantius in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Allen will also serve as one of the musical directors for the EF Sacred Music Retreat being held in Sleepy Eye from August 16-20. In addition to the complete Gregorian Propers sung by a Men's Schola, other musical offerings will include the "Tota Pulchra Es" of Fr. Jose Mauricio Nunes Garcia, a Brazilian composer and contemporary of Mozart's, and the famous "Ave Verum Corpus" of Mozart.

Reminder: Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society

This is our monthly reminder to please enroll Souls of the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society. The Society now stands at 95 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 in English to give to the loved ones of the Souls you enroll. It's free for anyone to use. CLICK HERE to download in Latin and CLICK HERE to download in Spanish. 

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 repose of 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.

Guest Op-Ed - Resisting the Temptation to Change the Our Father: "A heretical spirit enters the Church when man makes himself the measure of God’s Word"

Deacon Nick Donnelly

A heretical spirit enters the Church when man makes himself the measure of God’s word, rather than God’s word being the measure of man’s thoughts. This hubristic reversal is the definition of modernism. Pope St Pius X identified what is at the heart of this modernist mentality towards sacred Scripture, ‘a philosophy borrowed from the negation of God, and a criterion which consists of themselves’. (Pascendi dominici gregis, 34.)

One of the better parts of Vatican II warned that the authenticity of interpreting the word of God depends on strictly observing the threefold union of sacred Tradition, sacred Scripture and the Magisterium, which ‘are so linked together that one cannot stand without the others’. (Dei verbum, 10.) Any interpretation that ignores this threefold union, for example, by stressing one strand to the point of excluding or even contradicting the two others is immediately suspect of coming from a heretical spirit. With the above understanding, I will examine Francis’s change to the Our Father.

Francis’s change to the Our Father

Both the French and Italian Bishops’ Conferences have changed the sixth petition of the Our Father with the encouragement of this pontificate. Francis gave an interview in 2017 explaining his support for changes to ‘lead us not into temptation’:

Event: Archbishop Chaput to visit FSSP parish in Conshohocken, Pa.

Sermon for St. Ann’s Day 2019

In July of 1931, the New York World-Telegram reported about the miraculous cure of the young son of Hugh F. Gaffney.  The boy, who lived at 348 East 18th Street, was stricken with paralysis.  A relic of St. Ann, namely the bone of a finger, was brought to his hospital bed, where, according to the newspaper, after being touched by the bone, the invalid was cured.  The thought that a New York newspaper today would print such a story boggles the mind.  Militant secularism under the guise of liberalism, a liberalism that barely tolerates the Catholic Church, would see this as fake news and perhaps harmful to its world picture.

St. Ann’s church was located just a couple of blocks from this church, on East 12th Street, here in Manhattan. The building had an interesting history:  Baptist church, Episcopal Church, Jewish Synagogue, and then Catholic church.  When the church became too small for the size of the parish, the decision was made to rebuild the entire church in the French gothic style but to keep the original façade.  The new church was dedicated in 1871, and the New York Times called it “among the most beautiful and costly churches in this City”.  They compared it to the elegant and fashionable Grace Episcopal church in the same area of the City, which, by the way is still standing as we speak. Alas, St. Ann’s fell victim to a decision of the Archdiocese of New York to close the parish and to sell the property.  The property was bought by a developer in 2005.  The church was demolished, despite outcries from preservationist and local residents, and on that site New York University built a 26 story dormitory.  As a sop to the preservationists, NYU kept part of the façade of St. Ann’s, and it stands there today, as someone in a guide to New York City said, like a “majestic elk, shot and stuffed”.

Second Traditional Family Congress in Spain

The second Traditional Liturgy Congress 'Vayamos Jubilosos' for families took place in Avila, Spain, from the 11th of July until the 14th of July.

The Jesuits officially embrace Communism

When your once-great religious order is dying, and the face of your magazine is James Martin, LGBTSJ, you may as well jump off the cliff.

America magazine, the journal of the U.S. Jesuits, has just published an essay by its Toronto correspondent entitled "The Catholic Case for Communism."

Its Jesuit editor has an accompanying piece attempting to say America magazine does not necessarily endorse communism just because it has published a lengthy essay in favor of communism.  This is a laughable argument, considering the magazine or website does not publish pieces favoring, for instance, the traditional Latin Mass.  In fact, even when it publishes an article favoring something traditional, such as the Latin language, it must contain socially leftist remarks in the piece.  This is the only way an essay gets published in America magazine.

Finding one’s predominant fault

By Fr Konrad Loewenstein, FSSP

Dowry, FSSP Periodical

N. 41, Spring 2019

1. Its Nature

Each of us has a particular temperament which encompasses our whole manner of feeling, judging, sympathizing, willing, and acting. This temperament is to be perfected in each one of us by the practice of the Christian virtues. What can impede this work of perfection, and even bring each of us to our eternal ruin, is what is known as "the Predominant Fault".

Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange OP describes it as "our domestic enemy dwelling in our interior... at times it is like a crack in a wall that seems to be solid but is not so: like a crevice, imperceptible at times but deep, in the beautiful facade of a building, which a vigorous jolt may shake to the foundations." Like a crack, we may notice our predominant fault, but think that it is just on the surface, and does not go deep; or we may have seen it in the past but just painted it over and now we do not see it any more. Prudence dictates that, if we see a crack in a wall, we examine it and see whether it does in fact go deeper: perhaps there is a structural problem which threatens the whole edifice.

Some examples of the predominant fault are moral weakness, sloth, gluttony, sensuality, irascibility, and pride. Our predominant fault can inform and colour our entire temperament, and compromise our predominant virtue which is, to quote Fr Garrigou-Lagrange again, "a happy inclination of our nature" which should develop and increase by Grace. This predominant virtue should itself determine our temperament.

You Report: New chapter of Una Voce in the Washington, D.C. region

We are pleased to pass along this note from the new Northern Virginia chapter of Una Voce:

We would be delighted if Rorate could let its readership know about the newly-formed Chapter of Una Voce of NoVA. One of our Chapter’s objectives is to build a strong membership base in the Virginia-DC-Maryland-WV region, with the formation of local subchapters throughout the area. 

Saint Joseph Una Voce has been gathering with other like-minded Catholics at St. Peter Catholic Church in Washington, VA, on First Saturday mornings after hearing the 8:30 am Tridentine Mass, generously offered by the pastor, Fr. Kevin Beres. With Father's kind permission, a Meet and Greet pot-luck brunch follows, where old, new, and prospective members can meet and socialize. During brunch, an informal conversation ensues in which new goals and advancements are discussed.

Also, we are launching our speaker program, in which well-respected Catholic speakers are being invited to speak on topics of interest to our membership and friends. At present, we are finalizing plans for a popular speaker and hope to have the details published soon. Please check back to our website, under the News and Events tab, for the most current information. 

https://www.unavocevirginia.com

Do visit our website. We invite you to see the endorsements of some of the faithful prelates, clergy, and laity who have enthusiastically encouraged our efforts.

MISSION STATEMENT

Video: What happens when Radical Leftists meet Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament? They flee

This scene is quite remarkable:

Campus Marxists vs Catholic Procession💪✝️ pic.twitter.com/UHhCphNfgh

— Wojciech Pawelczyk 🇵🇱🇺🇸 (@PolishPatriotTM) July 21, 2019

"Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: the devils also believe and tremble."
(James 2:19)

FIUV Position Papers now a book: 'The Case for Liturgical Restoration'

Long-standing readers of Rorate Caeli will remember the series of 'Position Papers' published by me on this blog on behalf of the FIUV: Una Voce International (Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce). These were short but well-referenced discussions of rather specific issues connected with the Traditional Mass: why the priest celebrates ad orientem, what the Mass can do for the evangelisation of Africa, or why we should reconsider the Eucharistic Fast. The series concluded with number 33, on the 1955 Holy Week reform, in two parts.

With the help of Angelico Press and its editors, these have now been thoroughly revised, corrected, and made more consistent and readable, and published as a book:

The Case for Liturgical Restoration: Una Voce Studies on the Traditional Latin Mass; with a Preface by Cardinal Burke.

Buy the book here (in the UK), or at Amazon (in the USA); here is the publisher's page.

See a review by Charles Coulombe on NLM.

"You know, as Catholics we've been awfully quiet all these years. I am so tired of you, liberal church in America!"

Has the largest Catholic television network in the United States, EWTN, "gone rogue"? 

You would think so, judging from the increasingly vocal attacks of the extreme liberals, the Modernists and heretics who support every Francis move, against this great work of evangelization created almost ex nihilo by Mother Angelica. We know so many Traditional Catholics who began their journey to, or back to, the Church with EWTN. Unfortunately, it has very rarely featured the Traditional Mass (probably due to pressures and circumstances beyond its control), but the work it promotes is mostly solid.

In its news programs, EWTN has retained an informed and measured view of the insanity promoted by and under the current Pontiff. Many good people have been pushed over the edge by the bizarre behavior, words, and documents produced by Francis or under his name. It is good that EWTN retains enough independence to portray things as they are: after all, the Catholic Church is not a cult under a capricious figure, but a bulwark of Truth, reason, and reasonableness. 

Musings on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel - by Father Richard Cipolla

Last year I made the double pilgrimage for the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel:  first to the parish dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Newark, New Jersey, once a strong Italian parish with roots that extended to the Old Country and the devotion to Nostra Signora di Monte Carmelo, and then over the George Washington Bridge to Manhattan to the Midnight Mass for her feast at her parish on East 115th Street in Manhattan.  This year I was not able to make this pilgrimage, and I regretted it.  For making this pilgrimage resonated with where I grew up, in an Italian ghetto in Providence, Rhode Island, a section called (ironically) Federal Hill, a Wasp name for a place where everyone spoke some dialect from southern Italy, where there were four Catholic churches in a row in less than a mile, three of which no longer exist.   I remember walking on Atwells Avenue on a hot summer night when it was impossible to sleep in a small bedroom on the third floor of our tenement house.  I remember passing each church, each church with its doors wide open, and peering in and seeing the flickering of the hundreds of votive lights.  I was at that time an Italian-American boy of ten years old, with the distinction of being Protestant in a local world that was so very Catholic that surrounded me. How my family became Protestant is still a mystery, whether in Italy after the Risorgimento or when my grandfathers came to this country.  We were deeply Italian, despite our virulent anti-Catholic Protestantism.  Our ministers were all ex-Catholic priests, who would give half hour sermons, half of which would be rants against the Catholic Church.  We never ate meat on Friday.  The fish truck would come to our neighborhood, the pescivendolo would get out of his truck and blow his horn, and all the housewives in their housedresses would come down the stairs and buy fish, usually cod, for seventy-nine cents a pound.  We had home-made zeppole on St. Joseph’s Day.  We had a feast of seven fishes on Christmas Eve.  But after the meal we did not go to Midnight Mass.

But I remember the devotion to our Lady of Mount Carmel in our neighborhood, with the procession with the statue, Mary holding her Child.   I remember the fireworks when her statue came out of the church to begin the procession.  So how could I not be moved when as a Catholic priest (mirabile dictu!)  in Newark last year when the image of our Lady of Mount Carmel was carried outside of the church and was greeted with a riotous (albeit smaller than in the old days) display of fireworks, honoring her with light and sound.  And how wonderful to see the procession stop at people’s houses and have the family come out and give an offering in her honor—yes, pinning money onto her statue, something so un-American, so un-American because so un-Protestant.  And the Solemn Mass in the church, with a number of young priests who were discovering the Tradition of the Catholic Church. And then over the bridge to the Midnight Mass on 115th street in Harlem, to a parish so intimately involved with the Italian immigration of the early twentieth century and that played such an important role in the survival of the Italian immigrants in New York City, the home of the Papal Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.   There were not many Italians in the congregation at the Solemn Mass (of course Traditional Mass) in Harlem.  There were mostly Haitians.  But they sang the Missa de Angelis with a fervor and resonance that I will never forget.  Again there were young priests and seminarians from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who were discovering for themselves the stuff of Catholicism, the smell of Catholicism, the uniqueness of Catholicism, the real ethnicity of Catholicism that transcends language and culture and time and space.

Compiègne: "To the poorest daughter of Carmel,honor speaks louder than fear."

Mother Marie: Sister Blanche...

First Commissary: I forbid you to continue...

Mother Marie: You have the power to force me to silence, but none to command me to it. I represent here the Reverend Mother Prioress and I shall take no orders from you.

A Commissary: Confounded old hag! She cannot be made to hold her tongue, fellow Citizen, but remind her that the Republic has a machine at its disposal that will leave her somewhat short of breath!

First Commissary: Enough! I repeat that you must behave as a true representative of the people! [He turns to Sister Blanche:] Young citizen, you have nothing to fear from us, who are your liberators! Say but one word, and you will find yourself beyond the sway of those who, to better put you in their power, have not feared to offend nature in usurping even the sacred name of "mother". Henceforth, you are under the protection of the Law.

Mother Marie: But she is first under my protection. Do you think I shall permit you to take any further advantage of the terror of a child? I shall take great care to avoid a language that you cannot understand. You know nothing of that which holds us here and keeps us united unto death - or, if once you knew it, it is now certainly forgotten. But there are still perhaps words which are common to us, and which can touch your conscience. Well, sir, you must know that to the poorest daughter of Carmel, honor speaks louder than fear.

Georges Bernanos
Dialogues des Carmélites

On the day following her feast, the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel would receive her dear French daughters, martyred for their faith in her Son and for their loyalty to His Church.

O glorious Martyrs of Compiègne, pray for us!

[Our regular July 17 homage.]
[Personal recess for several days]

Raising the Cross on the Summit of Grand Garde

The following is the translation of the original article by the FSSPX by a dear reader. Click here to read the full article in French and to see more pictures. 

Just over 10 years ago, on February 11, 2009, God called three seminarians of Ecône back to Him. In memory of these three young men, a cross was raised on the summit of Grand Garde in the Swiss Alps, which is directly across the valley from the seminary. The cross was blessed on June 18, 2019, in presence of the whole seminary, the families of the deceased and friends from the canton of Valais.

Preparation

The idea was first proposed in 2013, but remained in the planning stage until spring of 2018. It took a whole year to bring the project to fruition. The cross was made by a carpenter in Valais, another craftsman applied copper plating, a solid foundation had to be designed and prepared… this took a month.

The 70 kg metal base was flown up to the summit by helicopter, together with an air compressor and a drill. The base was sunk 1.6 metres deep into the rock. Another 105 kg had to be carried up by the seminarians.

Our Lady and the Scapular: In 1251, the most extraordinary event in English history

The Mother of God and her Divine Son appear to Saint Simon Stock in Cambridge -- 768 years ago today, in 1251: has there been any other moment in English history whose consequences have aided so many souls throughout the world achieve and keep holiness, reaching final perseverance? Men and women, made of flesh, need material reminders of the presence of God in their lives -- and what could be more profitable than the blessed physical sign that Our Lady's Mantle covers us at all times, that Her Divine Son keeps watch over us day and night?

Armatura
fortis pugnantium
furunt bella
tende praesidium
Scapularis.

Saint Elias, pray for us!
Saint Simon Stock, pray for us!
Queen of Mount Carmel, pray for us!
Et fidelium animae per misericordiam Dei requiescant in pace. Amen.

(Our regular feature for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel)

The Jesuit Pimpernel: A book review by Fr Konrad Loewenstein, FSSP

Dowry

FSSP Quarterly

 Summer 2019, Issue N˚42

Fr John Gerard: The Jesuit Pimpernel Fr Gerard S.J. (1564 –1637) could have been the inspiration for Baroness Orczy’s celebrated novel The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905) where in 1793 a chivalrous baronet masquerades as a fop to better delude French revolutionaries and save aristocrats from the guillotine. It was English Catholics though, whom Fr Gerard rescued from Elizabethan gaols, and many Anglicans whom he saved from the spiritual dungeon of schism and heresy, reconciling them with the Church of Christ at his life’s peril. Fr Konrad Loewenstein, FSSP reviews a too little-known classic autobiography of this heroic and humorous Englishman.

The book is a memorandum of the exploits of the Jesuit priest, Fr. John Gerard, on the English Mission in 1588, translated from the Latin by Fr. Caraman and first published by him with the title ‘John Gerard, portrait of an Elizabethan’ (perhaps a more felicitous title).

He arrives at night by boat, accompanied by three other priests, all destined for martyrdom. Posing as a falconer in search of a lost falcon, he is soon directed by Divine Providence into the arms of the most outspoken opponent of Anglicanism and the Elizabethan Reform in the county. The latter, an influential member of the local gentry, welcomes him into his home and helps him initiate an apostolate amongst friends and their servants in the other great houses in the area.

Ars Celebrandi, World's largest Traditional Liturgy conference, starts in Poland (with pictures)

The “Ars Celebrandi” liturgical workshops have started at the Marian shrine in Licheń, Poland

The “Ars Celebrandi” liturgical workshops started yesterday, on 11 July, at the Marian shrine in Licheń, Poland, with a solemn votive Mass and a procession with the litany of the saints for the intention of the workshops. This is the sixth edition of the world’s largest workshops of the traditional Roman Catholic liturgy.

VIDEO: Largest ever SSPX church to be built and the history of St. Mary's, Kansas

This video isn't short, but it's well worth your time. See a beautiful computer rendering of what will be the largest church the Society has ever built, as well as a wonderful history of St. Mary's, Kansas. If you're inspired, you may CLICK HERE to donate to the church fund. 

“Hyperpapalism and Liturgical Mutation: The Case Against the Novus Ordo” — Full Text of Dr. Kwasniewski’s Lepanto Lecture

Rorate is pleased to present the full text of the lecture given by Dr. Kwasniewski at the Lepanto Conference held in New York City on February 16, 2019. A video of this lecture may be found at this link. The text has been edited for publication.

Hyperpapalism and Liturgical Mutation: The Case Against the Novus Ordo

De Mattei: Is the principle of legality being extinguished in the Church?

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

July 10, 201

If Pope Francis should be accused of a crime by any judge, in any part of the world, he should divest himself of his office as Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and submit himself to the judgment of a court. This is the logical and necessary conclusion to the stunning decision by which the Holy See denied diplomatic immunity to the French Apostolic Nuncio, Monsignor Luigi Ventura, accused of sexual molestations.

The Holy See could have discharged the Nuncio from his office, and, pending the outcome of the French justice system, initiate a canonical investigation on him, also for his own guaranty. The decision to dispatch the papal representative into the hands of a secular court, violates the institution of diplomatic immunity, the expression par excellence of the sovereignty, freedom and independence of the Church. That same diplomatic immunity, by the way, was invoked to protect the crimes committed in Italy by Pope Francis’s Almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.

Saint Thomas More: "This indictment is grounded upon an Act of Parliament, directly oppugnant to the laws of God and his holy Church..."

All which notwithstanding the jury found him guilty, and incontinent upon the verdict the Lord Chancellor [for that matter chief commissioner] beginning in judgment against him, Sir Thomas More said to him,

"My Lord, when I was towards the law, the manner in such case was to ask the prisoner before judgment, why judgment should not be given against him."

Whereupon the Lord Chancellor staying his judgment, wherein he had partly proceeded, demanded of him what he was able to say to the contrary. Who then in this sort mildly made answer:

"Forasmuch as, my Lord, this indictment is grounded upon an Act of Parliament, directly oppugnant to the laws of God and his holy Church, the supreme government of which, or of any part thereof, may no temporal prince presume by any law to take upon him as rightfully belonging to the See of Rome, a spiritual preeminence by the mouth of our Saviour himself, personally present upon the earth, to St. Peter and his successors, bishops of the same see, by special prerogative, granted, it is therefore in law amongst Christian men insufficient to charge any Christian."...

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: "Do not be afraid."

Fr. Richard Cipolla

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."  (Luke5:8)

This gospel seems straightforward.  Jesus wants to teach the crowd from a boat, sees that Simon’s boat is empty, asks him to pull out a little from the shore and starts speaking to the crowd.  When he is done, he tells Simon Peter to bring the boat into deeper water to get a good catch.  Simon explains that they have been trying all night long with no success. They are tired and discouraged.  But Simon does as Jesus tells him and they not only catch a lot of fish, but there are so many fish the  boats almost capsize.  The allegorical level so far would also seem obvious.  Peter’s boat is the Church, and to increase the number of followers of Jesus Christ, the Church cannot stay in the shallows but has to go out into the deep and trust in the Lord and there will be a huge increase in the members of Christ’s body that is the Church.

On the 12th Anniversary of Summorum Pontificum: Benedict XVI once again placed the Church on the path of eternity and immortality.

For several decades now, we have lived in the "Tyranny of the Present". Tradition is forgotten and, precisely because it is forgotten, our responsibilities for the future are also dismissed. The liturgical experimentation that led to the Novus Ordo was the epitome of Vatican II: it has given the Catholic hierarchy the liturgical-theological basis for their current promotion of the "here and now" as the supreme aim of the Church.

With Summorum Pontificum, the most consequential pontifical legislative act since 1969, Benedict XVI upended this new materialistic logic: by opening the gates of the past, he once again placed the Church on the path of eternity and immortality.

There was a Church before the present reality, there will be a Church forever: and the Sacred Liturgy she celebrates here, with true Traditional and Apostolic imprint, has always been and should always be, not a reflection of the banality of the moment, but a prefiguration of her immortality as Bride of Christ and her Paschal Feast with the Lord for all Eternity, outside the limitations of our present existence.

Twelve years ago, we published the following text: we do not have reason to alter one iota of it. Priests, enjoy your freedom.

***

Summorum Pontificum: Axes of Interpretation

Peronism in the Church: "To the friend, everything. To the enemy, not even justice!" (Video)

In 2014, we said the following on the Francis Pontificate:

The current situation of ecclesiastical politics might perhaps be better understood by those who have a grasp of three important concepts in Hispanic (Spanish and Spanish-American) political tradition: Caudillismo, an ancient and powerful political concept, system, and idea that is deeply ingrained in the Hispanic mind and experience, regardless of the theoretical political system in place; Caciquismo, a very peculiar and mostly Latin American version of Caudillismo; and the Argentine hazy political sub-concept of Caudillismo and Caciquismo known as Peronismo, which transformed the highly successful Argentine Republic of the early 20th century into what it is today.

This week, we were sent a link to a video of Argentine tyrant Juan Domingo Perón in an interview conducted in July 1973, 46 years ago. This is what Perón says in the video: