Guest Article: “The Seven Steps of the Altar”

Rorate Caeli is grateful to Canon Heitor Matheus, ICRSS, for sharing with us this beautiful homily he preached some time ago at St. Mary's in Wausau, Wisconsin. It is fitting to share it this week as we recall the dies natalis of St. John Vianney on August 4th (with his Mass in the usus antiquior on August 8th). We are reminded that the minor and major orders are very much alive in the Church today, continuing immemorial tradition. Young men responding to the Lord's call desire and deserve to have these rites for their strengthening and sanctification.

The Seven Steps of the Altar: Ascending to the Priesthood

Canon Heitor Matheus, ICRSS

THIS YEAR on the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (July 2), our Institute had the great joy to give nine more priests to the Church—nine more men who were ordained to continue the work of Redemption of Our Lord Jesus Christ. So I wish to speak today about this beautiful adventure that we call vocation and how a man becomes a priest.

As in a great puzzle, God has a place for each one of us, and we have the duty to try to find out where our place is. And I tell you that we are only going to be happy, truly happy, in the vocation God has for us. Our vocation is the most important decision we have to make in this life: it will decide the course of our life here below, and also bear upon our eternity.

But how do we find out our vocation? First of all, we have to know that the word “vocation” means “calling.” A vocation is a calling from God. We don’t hear this calling with the ears of our body, but we can perceive it by the affections of our heart. For example, when a young man enjoys coming to church, serving at the Altar, learning about the Faith, spending time in prayer… when it is as if he is drawn by a secret force to the things of God. Such things are signs of a vocation.

You Suggest: ICR Pilgrimage to Holy Lands in April

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Event: Advent day of recollection for young adults with ICR in Missouri

Institute of Christ the King opens apostolate in Waterbury, Conn.

You Suggest: ICR summer camps in Wisconsin

All of the information below and more can be found by clicking here. 

Event: Institute of Christ the King Lenten day of recollection for young adults

You suggest: Help restore the Shrine of Christ the King Novena starting December 17

From our friends at the Institute of Christ the King:

Emmanuel :  God is with us.

As we approach the great feast of Christmas, join the Institute of Christ the King in the Infant King Novena to prepare for the birthday of our God, the Eternal Word made flesh.  Venite adoremus!

Join us during these final days of Advent in the Infant King Novena as we prepare to celebrate the mystery of our redemption, the Mystery of the Incarnation.  From December 17 through Christmas Day, let us meditate and reflect on the greatest gift the world has ever received and our appreciation of this Eternal Gift in our daily lives.

2019 liturgical calendar reviews continue: ICR

Our latest 2019 liturgical calendar review comes from the always-focused-on-beauty Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

You Suggest: Institute of Christ the King day of recollection for young adults in Missouri

Institute of Christ the King - 2018 Ordinations

H. E. Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke conferred the Holy Order of Priesthood on four deacons of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest at their church Ss. Michael and Cajetan in Florence yesterday, July 5. They were the new Canons Fernando Fernandes de Almeida, Baudouin Chaptal de Chanteloup, Pablo Piaggio Kokot, and Paul d’Aubigny

There will also be five deacons and fourteen sub-deacons ordained on July 4th by the Most Reverend Salvatore Cordelione, Archbishop of San Fransisco.

On August 2nd, H.E. Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke will again confer the Holy Order of Priesthood on four American deacons of the Institute of Christ the King at St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis, Missouri: the Rev. Deacons Peter Heidenreich, Benjamin Norman, Matthew Weaver, and Luke Zignego

Please keep these young men in your prayers.

(The image above of yesterday's ordinations and many others, all extremely beautiful, provided by the Latin Mass Society - Wrexham)

Event: Pilgrimage to ICKSP shrine in Preston, England, 5th May

The Latin Mass Society with the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest is organizing a pilgrimage to the magnificent historic church of the English Martyrs in Preston, Lancashire, on Saturday 5th May. (The national feast of the Martyrs of England and Wales falls on 4th May.)

PCED permission for pre-1955 Holy Week, photos

As some readers may know, the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" has given new permission to a handful of traditional priestly societies to offer Holy Week liturgies this month as they existed before the massive Pius XII / Archbishop Bugnini reforms of 1955.

The permission, confirmed by Rorate via several sources at the priestly societies, is for a limited time on an experimental basis.  In other words, if the Masses are offered well, with proper education and preparation beforehand, then perhaps this indult could lead to something larger in the future.

Traditional (and conservative) Catholic blogs were asked to hold off on reporting this until after Palm Sunday. (You may have noticed, however, several posts on the pre-1955 Holy Week in general.) The main goal, it seems, from the priests organizing this week's liturgies is to do them well -- and not necessarily cause too much of a global media fuss. Pastoral decisions were also made, and compromises such as using Pope Benedict's reformed Prayer for the Jews were decided upon, to avoid liberal advocacy group-driven complaints that caused a media stir in 2008 following Summorum Pontificum.

Early reports show things went well two days ago. We are pleased to publish a selection of photos from Palm Sunday 2018:

Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter; Kansas City, Kansas

FSSP; Los Angeles, California

FSSP; Los Angeles, California

Event: Music at the Shrine of Christ the King in Chicago for Holy Week 2018

The Choir Director of the ICKSP Shrine of Christ the King in Chicago has asked us to share the following information.

Event: ICR Solemn Mass for St. Patrick's Patronal Feast in Kansas City

ICR Pilgrimage to Holy Lands in April

EVENT: Solemn High Mass with Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest in Kansas City

Mother knows best! Support the seminarians of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest

The following letter was given to us by this mother of a seminarian of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICR). When we ask you to consider giving money to causes, you should know we almost always have done so ourselves. We support an ICR seminarian on a weekly basis. We ask you to as well, even in very small dollar amounts, if at all possible. You can click here to do so now, by scrolling down to "International Seminary":  

 Letter from the Mother of a Seminarian: 

The late Father John Hardon, of happy memory, once said, "The proof of love is pain." We see this truth in all it's paradoxical beauty when we gaze upon our crucified King on the Cross. 

We have begun a new liturgical year with the start of Advent; that time of joyful waiting for the birth of our Precious Lord. We will prepare for this great feast with special prayers, adornments for our souls and for our homes, and works of mercy, to name a few. We will relish our Advent traditions. We will spend the next four weeks contemplating what we are about to celebrate; the dawn of our Redemption.

ICR Sister Adorers come to England

Another personal parish for New England

Last year it was announced the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter was given permission by the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, to establish the first personal parish in New England in the United States, offering the traditional Latin Mass and sacraments in Nashua, New Hampshire. Rorate visited that parish -- Saint Stanislaus -- last month, and the growth is quite impressive.

This month the Institute of Christ the King announced it has been invited into the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, to start an oratory at Saints Cyril and Methodius parish. 

Event: Bishop Schneider to visit Kansas City

We have been metering out the public schedule of His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider, who will visit the United States this month for numerous Masses and events, including in Connecticut, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin. On 28-29 October, he will be in Missouri for a pontifical High Mass for the feast of Christ the King, with the Institute of Christ the King, and a conference on Blessed Karl.