Book Launches with Dr. Peter Kwasniewski in Warsaw and Krakow, November 25 and 26

When the Polish Ministry of Education invited me to attend a conference on classical liberal education in Warsaw on Tuesday, November 24 and to give there a lecture on the “American experiment” with the Great Books (especially at Thomas Aquinas College, the Pearson Integrated Humanities Program, and Wyoming Catholic College), it so happened that the trip coincided with the release of the Polish editions of two of my books in defense of the Traditional Latin Mass: Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness and Reclaiming Our Roman Catholic Birthright.

EVENT: Ars Celebrandi, World's Largest Traditional Liturgy Workshop, to take place in 2021

 The Shrine of Our Lady of Lichen, in Poland, is to host once again this year* ARS CELEBRANDI, the largest global workshop for the Traditional Roman Liturgy. (Registrations available here.)

As in previous editions, Ars Celebrandi should include the following events:

In Poland, a Roadside Billboard: "Stop Communion in the Hand!"

 

That's it. We have nothing to add.

Just our most heartfelt congratulations to the Polish Association of Christian Culture for their beautiful campaign (click here) in promotion of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

A Collect Worthy of Royalty

Today, October 16, is the traditional feastday of St. Hedwig, or St. Jadwiga, patroness of Poland. (She died on October 15, 1243, but in the general calendar that day was given to St. Teresa of Jesus.) And what an exemplary Catholic she was, whether as royal consort, wife, mother, widow, or nun! Here is the entry in my old St. Andrew's Daily Missal, showing how beautifully suited to her are the readings of the Common of Holy Women.

Hedwig, of royal birth, and still more illustrious by the innocence of her life, was the daughter of Berthold, Prince of Carinthia, and aunt, on the mother's side, of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Having married Henry, Duke of Poland, she fulfilled her duties as wife in so holy a fashion that the Church compares her to the strong woman, whose portrait is drawn for us by the Holy Ghost in today's Epistle. She had three sons and three daughters. She macerated her body, both by fasting and watching and by the roughness of her clothes; she was very charitable to the poor, whom she herself served at table. She washed and kissed the ulcers of lepers.

          To devote herself more to the service of God, she induced her husband to bind himself, by vow, with her, to observe continence. The Duke having died, Hedwig, like the merchant mentioned in the Gospel, gave away all her riches to acquire the precious pearl of eternal life. After praying earnestly, and under divine inspiration, she generously exchanged worldly pomp for the life of the Cross (Collect), entering the Cistercian monastery of Trebnitz, where her daughter was abbess. She died on 15 October 1243, and Poland honours her with special veneration as her patroness.

The Collect for her feast is one more gem from the treasure chest of the traditional Roman rite:

News and Beautiful Images of the 7th Annual Ars Celebrandi TLM Workshop in Poland

The Ars Celebrandi Latin Mass Workshop is the largest TLM workshop in the world -- and it took place this year as well! Naturally, under the circumstances of the current pandemic, a much smaller number of people were able to come and the churches remained almost empty due to restrictions.

However, its continuity was assured.

Here we are praying that in 2021 there will be more people than ever, Deo volente!

***

The 7th liturgical workshops "Ars Celebrandi" ended in Licheń (Poland).  

The liturgy workshops "Ars Celebrandi" took place at the Marian shrine in Licheń for the seventh time. Throughout the week, from 9 to 16 July 2020, almost 150 people from all over Poland, and several other countries, learned all the skills needed to celebrate Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The coronavirus pandemic caused the number of participants to be limited to 150 (compared to 230 in previous years) and required strict sanitary rules (regular disinfection, wearing masks - in accordance with regulations, social distance), but the nature and program of the workshop were not reduced. Despite restrictions on travel, some participants from other countries (Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania) arrived, although there were fewer than in previous years. 

His Excellency Bishop Wiesław Mering, ordinary of the Włocławek diocese, sent his blessing to the participants, expressing his joy that the workshops are once again taking place in his diocese. Bishop Wiesław Mering gives his honorary patronage to the workshops "Ars Celebrandi" since the very beginning.

Watch and See: Beautiful Video and Images from the 2018 "Ars Celebrandi" Latin Mass Workshop - Poland

The largest workshop for the Traditional Latin Mass in the world, Ars Celebrandi, concluded last July 18 in Licheń, Poland, with a visit by Archbishop Guido Pozzo.

Archbishop Guido Pozzo, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei (the Holy See office for Catholics attached to the traditional Roman liturgy) had this message to the workshops’ participants and organizers: "I would like to thank God for this active presence of the Ars Celebrandi community, committed to the promotion of the ancient Roman liturgy and thus giving glory to God for the sake of the Church and all mankind... I encourage you to continue and go forth, in trust in the grace of God."

Archbishop Guido Pozzo celebrated the Pontifical Mass in the Licheń Basilica and presided over Pontifical vespers. The faithful taking part in these celebrations and receiving the Papal blessing could receive a plenary indulgence under ordinary conditions by the decision of the Apostolic Penitentiary.

(Video of the Pontifical Mass below)

All hail Poland! - Son of Prime-Minister to celebrate his First Traditional Mass on June 4

UPDATE: Some great pics of the new priest are now available here. 

The son of the Polish Prime-Minister, Mrs. Beata Szydło, will be ordained to the Holy Priesthood of the Catholic Church tomorrow, May 27.

Father Tymoteusz Szydło, a diocesan priest, will celebrate his first Traditional Mass (with indulgences attached to it) in the Church of the Holy Cross in Krakow, served by the Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) in Poland, on the Feast of Pentecost (Sunday, June 4, 2017), at 7:15 pm.

Congratulations to Prime-Minister Szydło, her husband, the new Priest, his extended family, and to all of Blessed Poland: beatus populus cuius Dominus Deus eius!

[Source: FSSP Poland; tip: Twitter follower Sarmaticus.]

It's official: Christ, the King of Poland!

By Fr. Paul McDonald

Special to Rorate Caeli

The Lord Jesus Christ Recognized as the King of Poland

Radio Maryja (@RadioMaryja) reports that the Bishops of Poland have enthroned, or, to use the bishops' more sober expression, "recognized" Christ as the King of Poland. This was done in the official presence of the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda. Many pilgrims were present in Poland for this event. Today the act will be repeated in all the Polish cathedrals and parishes. This took place yesterday, Saturday, at the Church of Divine Mercy in Krakow .

The providential and proximate origin of the act is to be found in revelations received, or said to be received, by the Servant of God Rosalia Zelkova. The Lord -- she said -- demanded that He be enthroned as King by the Polish Nation as such, and not just in the hearts of the Poles, in a particular manner, and this would have saved Poland in the war that was coming.

At first, especially after Vatican II, the idea did not find much support among the bishops. One may think that the shadow of Dignitatis Humanae was a factor, especially since the theme of the social right to religious liberty was so strong in the teaching of Pope Saint John Paul II. Another factor would have been the proximate origin, spoken of above. The same factor afflicts the Fatima Message. Under the diffused influence of theological modernism there is a diffidence even about the possibility of communications from Heaven.

But the social kingship of our Divine Lord is absolutely founded in necessary and dogmatic truths about Christ. It is not merely an element of private revelation. St. Gregory the Great said that they were heretics who denied that Christ is the King of and over everything.

Dr. Kwasniewski’s Upcoming Lectures in Prague, Olomouc, and Krakow

For the launch of the Czech and Polish editions of my book Resurgent in the Midst of Crisis: Sacred Liturgy, the Traditional Latin Mass, and Renewal in the Church, I will be giving lectures in the cities of Prague, Olomouc, and Krakow on Friday, Sunday, and Monday. Each lecture is special for its occasion, as indicated below. As noted earlier on Rorate, Cardinal Burke will participate in the book launch in Prague, while the abbot of Tyniec Abbey will participate in the book launch in Krakow.

All events are free and open to the public. Lectures will be given in English, with accompanying translations in Czech or Polish. Signed copies of the book will be on sale. I look forward to meeting in person everyone who comes. To Rorate’s Eastern European readers: please tell your friends!

Ars Celebrandi 2016 ends with magnificent Mass

From the Ars Celebrandi 2016 press release:

WORLD YOUTH DAY 2016 (25-31 July) with JUVENTUTEM - Last Booking Day: JUNE 26th - Pontifical Masses w/ Card. Pell & Bp. Schneider

For pilgrims from the UK, America and anywhere else: deadline for booking: 26th June

Arrival in Krakow: Monday 25 July

Departure from Krakow: Sunday 31 July

Daily Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite

Daily talks on the Catholic faith by well trained clergy

Confessions and Eucharistic Adoration

Visits of splendid Krakow & Official WYD events

Included in the £299.00:

· Accommodation for 6 nights in a hotel in the historic centre of Krakow, 5mn walk from the Juventutem church (shared rooms, with real bed! and real shower! + real breakfast!)

· WYD Pilgrim Package: all meals + pilgrim’s literature + transport pass for the week

Add: travel from your home to Krakow hotel and return

***

Featuring:

- George Cardinal Pell, Prefect of the Secretariat for Economy: will offer a traditional pontifical high Mass for Juventutem on Wednesday 27th July and give official catechesis

“Ars Celebrandi” traditional liturgy workshops, Licheń 2016

As you may remember, Rorate covered several of the most important events of the largest liturgical workshop of the Traditional Rites of the Latin Church currently in the world, the Ars Celebrandi, in 2015.

Rorate Caeli is very proud to be an official partner of Ars Celebrandi 2016, from whom we received the following release:

“Ars Celebrandi” traditional liturgy workshops, Licheń 2016

The third edition of “Ars Celebrandi” traditional liturgy workshops will take place in the Sanctuary of Our Lady in Licheń, Poland, from 4th until 11th of August 2016. This is the greatest event of that kind in Central-Eastern Europe. Registration of participants has just started.

HOPE: Celebration of the 1050th Anniversary of the Baptism of Poland

It went little noticed over the weekend by the media (including "Catholic" media) but Poland marked the critical anniversary of the nation's baptism in the year 966. If only all the nation's presidents would proclaim the truth Faith in this way.

See below for his address to the National Assembly. There is hope. 

Cardinal Burke's visit to Krakow, Poland - Pontifical Mass (with video)

Cardinal Burke was recently in Krakow, Poland to release his book Divine Love Made Flesh: The Holy Eucharist as the Sacrament of Charity. Cardinal Dziwisz warmly welcomed him, and he celebrated a Pontifical Mass in the city. (Video below)

Polish bishops: liberal Synod fathers want to change doctrine.

One of the most pernicious slogans used both by the Synod liberals and the Synod's apologists is that "doctrine will not be changed, only the discipline". It is a slogan calculated to lull Catholics into complacency -- after all, whatever happens, the doctrine is not gonna change, right? It is a slogan, a talking point, that reveals how well the liberals understand the modern Catholic mentality, with its unwarrantedly sharp distinction if not de facto divorce between "doctrine" and "discipline", between "Tradition" (big T) and "tradition" (small t), between the "letter" and the "spirit" of laws and doctrines, and between the "essence" of Church teachings and the "language" in which these are expressed. 

Thankfully, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, President of the Polish Bishops' Conference and acknowledged mouthpiece of the Polish hierarchy, has published a short note (October 17)  on the website of the Polish Bishops' Conference, succinctly exposing this slogan, this mantra, for what it is: a deception, a lie. (Our thanks to Toronto Catholic Witness for the translation). 

 Archbishop Gądecki: they are trying to push through changes in doctrine

Synod - Simple and to the point: Polish Bishops explain why "remarried" divorcees will never be able to licitly receive Holy Communion

Since the very first year of Rorate, we have covered the persistent wave of those prelates who have tried to use the cover of "mercy" to push for sacrilege (in the name of reception of Holy Communion by civilly "remarried" divorcees). Naturally, at that time we did not expect we would ever reach an age where support for the idea would come from the very highest level of the hierarchy.

Thankfully, Catholic Poland does not disappoint. In his intervention on the matter, made Saturday in the Synod Hall, and made public this Monday, the President of the Polish Bishops' Conference , Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, explained it clearly and in unforgettable words why Catholic doctrine on the matter can never be changed from what it always was.

The Polish Conference also published a theological commentary explaining the matter at the light of the Councils of the Church, in particular of the Sacrosanct Council of Trent, which dealt particularly with the concepts of sanctifying grace, sacramental grace, and mortal sin which must be muddled by the manipulators in order for the sacrilege to be forced down the Church.

First his intervention:

Secretary-General Stalin Wants to Control the Narrative in the Synod - We bring the Samizdat back to the Soviet bloc: Poland - En français: Interventions de trois minutes des Pères Synodaux

Sorry.... did we say "Stalin"?... Oops! We meant Baldisseri! Honest mistake. If you follow our Twitter account @RorateCaeli (and if you do not, you should!), you may have noticed that we have severely criticized the humiliating fashion in which the mainstream media accepts and tolerates the information blackout imposed by the Holy See Press Office during this Synod. They would never tolerate this kind of control from any government, not even any dictatorship, yet the Holy See (rather, Cardinal Baldisseri, the Synod Secretary-General) imposes it during the Synod, and all obey it like cattle.

And if some bishops "disobey" Secretary-General Stalin... sorry again, Baldisseri, then he sends his commissioners to warn them:

++ Baldisseri & @FatherRosica attempt to stop Synod Fathers breaking their iron grip on the communication of #synod15 pic.twitter.com/aPhhztfEbX

— Nick Donnelly (@ProtectthePope) October 9, 2015

Ah, that is very threatening! The bishops can publish their own texts, but they can't (they just can't, that's it) the texts of others! Or what?

Well, it must have worked, because the President of the Polish Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Gadecki, had made available on Wednesday a summary of the interventions of many Synodal Fathers (on the first day, in French). After the new threat, it disappeared (here). Thankfully, we saved the content, a precious piece of Catholic history.

Another piece of the Samizdat, now back to the Soviet bloc, thanks to a new Secretary-General, who must be obeyed!

Interventions de trois minutes des Peres Synodaux – Deuxième Assemblée générale (10/05/2015)

7 Październik 2015

Interventions de trois minutes des Peres Synodaux – Deuxième Assemblée générale (10/05/2015)

■ Mgr Victor Manuel Fernàndez (archevêque ; Argentine), recteur de l’Université catholique argentine, nommé membre du comité de rédaction de la Relation finale du Synode. – S. Thomas d’Aquin enseigne que l’amour se développe. Nous attendons le soutien des époux dans le développement de l’amour. La doctrine de la miséricorde doit être suivie par la charité pastorale.

ROMAN GLORY - video of the highlights of the Ars Celebrandi liturgical workshop in Poland

Beautiful Ars Celebrandi Traditional liturgy workshop in Poland - report and pictures, with declarations by Bp. Schneider

On 19 August 2015, at the “Ars Celebrandi” workshop of traditional liturgy [see announcement here], bishop Athanasius Schneider from Kazakhstan celebrated Pontifical Mass and Vespers, and gave a lecture on the proper renewal of the liturgy and due adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. He also answered questions from the participants of the workshops and signed his latest book Corpus Christi.

In his lecture, entitled “The Renewal of the Liturgy and the Perennial Sense of the Church”, which abounded in quotations from the New Testament, the writings of the Church Fathers and the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, His Excellency pointed out that the essential feature of the sacred liturgy is the adoration of God.

EVENT: Ars Celebrandi - Traditional Liturgy Workshop in Poland

Press release:

Ars Celebrandi – the largest traditional liturgy workshop in Eastern Europe

From the 16th until the 23rd of August 2015 in the Holy Mary Shrine in Licheń (Our Lady of Licheń Basilica), Poland, the second Ars Celebrandi liturgical workshop will take place, the largest in Eastern Europe. 180 people from Poland and abroad are already registered, including 40 priests. His Excellence Bishop Athanasius Schneider will celebrate the pontifical Mass and Pontifical Vespers. His Excellency Bishop Wiesław Mering, of Diocese of Wrocławek, is the welcoming bishop.

As happened  last year participants will be able to choose from wide range of  practical workshops dedicated to priests, seminarists, acolyte servers, liturgy musicians, and other people caring about liturgy. Highly qualified and experienced leaders will be teaching: