MASS OF THE AGES - First episode of the documentary trilogy on the Traditional Mass

With a goal of reaching 10 million Catholics, an incredible new documentary on the traditional Latin Mass premiered on YouTube last night, and can now be watched any time with the entire family. 

Executive produced by Harrison Butker, one of the best (and current) NFL kickers who part times as a TLM server, Mass of the Ages exceeded expectations in both production and content. 

With the horrors of Traditionis Custodes closing in on many traditional Catholics around the world, the need to both educate, and inspire, as many Catholics as possible is critical and urgent. 

You may watch episode 1, below. 

To help fund the project and ensure they can market it to as many people as possible, CLICK HERE. 

Mental prayer video: Christ on fasting

Over the past year I have come to love, and grow, in mental prayer. This was something that eluded me because I am a deeply visual person and always had a difficult time reading a book on mental prayer then actually visualizing how to do it, until Fr. David Nix, a diocesan hermit, created his "VLX" series. 

If you want to start from the beginning and learn how to do the two forms of mental prayer, CLICK HERE. Fr. Nix posts about one new video per week. He also has a catechism course you'll see called "CPX". 

For today, I went back to a pre-Lent video, to refresh myself on what Jesus taught on fasting to keep it front and center during the home stretch leading up to Easter. And I've embedded that below. 

I encourage everyone, even children, to utilize this amazing video tool Father offers, especially if metal prayer is not currently a regular part of your prayer life. If you find it as deeply helpful to you as I do, please also consider donating to Fr. Nix, and help him continue his good work.

New 2019 Ordo app for traditional Missal and Breviary now available

We asked our old friend Louis Tofari of Romanitas Press to write a post for our readers when we saw his great new, inexpensive app for priests and laymen. See below from Louis:

The 2019 Ordo for the traditional (1962) Roman Missal and Breviary is now available again from Romanitas Press as mobile apps for both Android and Apple devices.

This digital version of the printed Ordo for mobile devices is not only handy for the traveling clergy who follow the traditional missal and breviary, but also for the laity as a liturgical calendar! 

Online Radio from Friars at Gosport, England

High Mass at St Mary's, Gosport

See radioimmaculata.org : explained below.

“Ierusalem, Ierusalem, covertere ad Dominum, Deum tuum”

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted unto the Lord, thy God.”

This is the gut-wrenching cry we hear at the Office of Tenebrae during the Paschal Triduum at the end of the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah. Jerusalem - the Holy City of God; where the faithful of the Lord are supposed to dwell are called to turn back and face the Lord once again. The Lamentations of Jeremiah are rather disquieting as one hears the miseries of a people who have abandoned the Lord, of Jerusalem whose destruction is close at hand.

‘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…

Never again get stuck without the 2017 Ordo!

Our friends at Romanitas Press have just produced a trial version of their mobile Android app of the 2017 Ordo for the traditional Roman Missal and Breviary (1962) — and it's only 99 cents. The 2018 version for both Android and Apple should be available next month.

This digital version of the Ordo for Android devices is not only handy for the traveling clergy who follow the traditional missal and breviary, but also for the laity as a mobile liturgical calendar for attending the traditional Mass.

This Ordo app is easy to use and each entry lists the class of the day, proper Mass (or options), Office’s color, and variable parts of the Mass and Breviary. Also included are helpful notes such as when a Requiem Mass is prohibited — and specifically for pastors, pulpit announcements of the liturgical year.

You Suggest: An 'immaculate' new internet radio station broadcasting pre-1955 Easter Triduum

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:

Mitigating our way to Perdition

A month out from Easter Sunday, there is still time to double down on our Lenten penance and sacrifices, making the most of this beneficial time. 

Below is a short, powerful sermon, which we hope will both help you understand what the Church has lost since her downward spiral began in the 20th Century, and yet motivate you to strive even harder to become great saints. 

Click here to listen to the sermon.

[Originally posted in 2015]

Lent is coming: Time to prepareAudio mission on death, judgement, Heaven & Hell

Lent is coming next week. We're running out of time to prepare.

In the past, you could find a traditional Lenten Mission at many parishes. Now, unless you are near a traditional parish, they are nearly extinct -- or worthless.

Fortunately, we are not meant to live in the past, we are meant to live in the now. And, now, we have the Internet. And there is an abundance of good on the Internet, along with the bad.

As we do every year, we bring to your attention this wonderful, traditional, five-part Lenten Mission by the holy and learned Fr. Isaac Mary Relyea. While it is not short, it does go by very quickly, and is easy to follow and understand. It's clear, concise and bold.

As the season nears, you would do well to listen to this, to pray on it and to use it to prepare for a fruitful Lent -- and be ready for it to change you for the better.

Click on each of the five themes of the mission: Prelude to the Mission * On Death * On Judgment * On Hell * On Heaven

Please consider helping Fr. Isaac. If these sermons end up meaning as much to you as they do to us, please consider giving whatever you can to cover Father's expenses.

To donate, please send your contribution to the address below. You can reference Rorate when you write. No donation is considered too small.

Father Isaac Mary Relyea
369 County Road 546
Hanceville, Alabama 35077

Audio: On the Sixth Generation - Generational spirits of the Lost Generation to the one currently being born

The great Father Chad Ripperger has delivered a powerful talk on the demonic, how demons attack certain generations, how they are passed from parent to child and generation to generation, and what we can do to prevent this. It's well worth a listen. 

Click here to listen to this powerful conference. 

We would even recommend sending it to lukewarm Catholics who you know are history buffs as it could prove interesting to them from a historical perspective and wake them up to their faith -- and the dangers that lie ahead. 

Also: Click here to visit the main website of Sensus Traditionis. It's a stock pile of wonderful sermons, conferences, audio and video. And the written text documents mentioned in the above conference on generations is housed on the site as well. 

Last, please pray for Fr. Ripperger and his work.

Encouragement for homeschoolers

For those who homeschool, especially for those either just starting or with all fairly young children in their early educational years, we don't have to tell you -- it's hard. It's really hard. 

If you read some of the homeschooling blogs, while they mean well, they often leave you with the feeling that homeschooling should always be this wonderful, permanent joy. It should always feel like that painting of mother in her chair with the perfectly behaved little ones at her knees listening to each and every word emanating from her mouth.

Then there's reality. 

The reality is, for many, homeschooling isn't just an option, it's the only option. It's a spiritual life or death situation for your children. You know you can't send them to public school, where they'll lose their souls. You know you can't send them to the local "Catholic" school, where they'll lose their faith. Yet, that doesn't make your day to day any easier. 

A traditional priest has recorded a short but very inspirational reminder of why you homeschool and why you must keep at it. 

Click here to listen now.

Guest Op-Ed: The Selfie Pope

The following short guest Op-Ed was penned for us by a newly ordained diocesan priest, writing under the name Monsieur l'Abbé:

Writing in 1966, the English poet W.H. Auden warned about the dangers of the Church’s use of mass media: “I am convinced that the Church cannot make use of them without falsifying what She stands for” (“The Worship of God in a Secular Age: Some Reflexions”). For Auden, the mid-century Church’s use of television, radio, and advertisements made it banal, not current. Unfortunately, the slow acceptance of these various media has proven that they have done little to win people to the Faith. Will the Pope’s launching of an official Instagram account today make any difference?

Mitigating our way to Perdition

As Holy Week is fast approaching, there is still time to double down on our Lenten penance and sacrifices, making the most of this beneficial time. 

Below is a short, powerful sermon, which we hope will both help you understand what the Church has lost since her downward spiral began in the 20th Century, and yet motivate you to strive even harder to become great saints.

Click here to listen to the sermon.

Reminder: Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society and logo design contest

This is our monthly reminder to please enroll Souls of the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society. And, please remember our new policy change, that the names of Souls you enroll will no longer be made public. We now stand at 70 priests saying weekly or monthly traditional Latin Masses for the souls!

REMINDER: The deadline for graphic designs to create a logo/coat of arms for the Society is February 15. Read more here. 

Graphic designers: help the Purgatorial Society

UPDATE: We are already getting submissions, so thank you! But please, take your time. Let's set a deadline of February 15. Those of you who have submitted, go back and think about it and take some more time. Those of you who haven't, don't rush it. We're looking for the best logo/coat of arms we can have to represent the Society.
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For those of you who are experts -- or at least proficient -- with graphic design, the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society is asking for your help.

When we started the Society five years ago, we didn't have anything big in mind. He hoped to find a couple of priests to pray a weekly or monthly traditional Latin Mass for souls that readers would enroll, to make up for the canonizations that happen from the pulpit at most Novus Ordo requiem Masses, which rob the deceased of prayers. Fast forward to today, and we have 70 priests saying weekly and monthly TLMs for the Society, and hundreds of thousands of enrolled souls!

Priestly celibacy: More than a mere discipline

Yesterday, we reported that priestly celibacy was once again on Pope Francis' radar (see here). We at Rorate have seen this coming for a while as an organic -- yet oh-so-non-organic -- development in the future erosion of the Church's tradition.

Pope Francis on Interreligious Dialogue

Below is the final scene in the video, shortly after the Pope has announced his intention for this month: "That sincere dialogue among men and women of different faiths may produce the fruits of peace and justice":

Here's how this video came about, and the announcement that all of the pope's monthly intentions will now be in video format:

Free Catholics books, in English and Spanish

A faithful reader of ours has compiled as many free online books as she could find. Amazingly, while the site has never really been promoted, when you Google search "Catholic books" it's still one of the top sites returned. People have found it on their own and found it to be a Godsend. In fact, as I was showing this site to Mrs. Adfero, she told me she too has used it to read books for free. 

Catholic audio books -- listen for free!

We got word of another wonderful website, with over 450 free Catholic audio books for you to enjoy. Yes, that's right -- FREE. No credit cards, no payment. Just click, listen and get one step closer toward salvation.

The Synod explained via new mediaAn epic Catholic rant and a look back to see the present

The Synod of Sin has concluded. For some perspective to understand the traditional position -- from a non-traditional medium -- we bring you two helpful tools.