May, a Very Special Month: EGO FLOS CAMPI ET LILIUM CONVALLIUM - #MonthOfMary

IESUS - MARIA - IOSEPH

Jesus, Lily of the Valleys

Mary, Queen of May

Joseph, Patron of Laborers

Orate pro nobis!

***

Chalice - Lily. The chalice is the lily, stylized and adapted to our use, and which, born from water, is proper for us to take to our lips.

The lily, and especially the water-lily, also called lotus or nenuphar, has always had a peculiar place in the symbolism of all religions. It projects its roots to substantial and deep regions, separated from our sight by these fluid, contemplative, mirror-like layers which are the domain of that which is contingent, unstable, of illusion and of this "time", of this reflection which relates to several circumstances.

“New archbishop of Paris: enemy of Catholic heritage”

By Didier Rykner

La Tribune de l’art (source)

Are you worried about Notre-Dame, and about the liturgical arrangement that the diocese of Paris wants to install there? You are right to be worried; and it will not get any better with the Pope’s appointment of Laurent Ulrich as the new Archbishop of Paris, who until now was Archbishop of Lille.

Lille… this will undoubtedly awaken some memories among our readers. For Mgr Ulrich is none other than one of those who—with the active complicity of the Ministry of Culture, notably the minister Roselyne Bachelot and the former director of Heritage Philippe Barbat—are responsible for the demolition of the Saint Joseph’s chapel, which the bulldozers have brought down, definitively mutilating the college of which it was an inseparable part (see here). We had forgotten to mention the archbishop of Lille when we listed the culprits. This has been rectified.

Announcing the Release of Mass of the Ages Episode II —plus Screenings at Theatres in Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Front Royal, Washington DC

Following the tremendously positive reception of Episode I with over 1 million views to date, the creators of the Mass of the Ages trilogy are pleased to announce the release of Episode II slated for the Feast of the Ascension, Thursday, May 26, at 8pm ET. In contrast to the storytelling approach of Episode I, which offered a beautiful and compelling overview of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM),  Episode II takes an investigative posture, diving deeper into the origin of the New Mass, the key players in Rome, and its decades-long impact on the Catholic Church.

Sacred Heart Traditional Walking Pilgrimage in Ireland, June 22-24, 2022

The following article was sent to us by Séan McGee. We encourage our readers in Ireland to spread the word and take part!

Like everywhere in the Catholic world, being deprived of the ancient Liturgy and the Sacraments in recent “Covid” years was devastating for Traditional Catholics in Ireland, small in number though they are.

Experiences That Make One a Traditionalist . . .

Those who have assisted at the traditional Roman liturgy for some time can usually name many things about it that they noticed over the years — things that impressed, provoked, consoled, puzzled, that made them wake up, question more, dig deeper. There is a moment of transition, I find, from being one who appreciates the old liturgy, perhaps now and again, or as a field trip, or as a pastoral duty, to being one who has fallen in love with it, who makes it his spiritual home, and who, accordingly, may justly be called a traditionalist. (As much as some people protest against the use of that word, it remains immensely handy for naming a phenomenon, which is what language is supposed to do.)

My books mention many such experiences, but here are two that are especially appropriate to share in Easter week.

The first was the contrast I noticed, several years in a row, between the modern (Paul VI) Easter Vigil and the Easter Sunday Missa Cantata of the Roman Rite. The reason for comparing these two is that I was involved at the time in providing music for both — the “Ordinary Form” on Saturday night and the “Extraordinary Form” (how quaint are those terms now!) on Sunday morning.

Roberto de Mattei interviewed by La Verità - A Sharp Analysis of the End of the Francis Pontificate: "What is not conditional, and is irreversible, is the promise of Mary."

Roberto de Mattei, historian and former vice president of the National Research Council, directs the Fondazione Lepanto, the monthly Radici Cristiane, and the press agency CorrispondenzaRomana.

 

After recalling that no one can sing victory over a pile of rubble, Pope Francis reiterated that war destroys both winners and losers. These are the positions of the realist school of international relations: war may be legitimate, but it is “a form of moral failure,” as for example George Kennan wrote.

“The pope has never been a Tolstoyan pacifist. Over Leo Tolstoy he has always preferred Fyodor Dostoevsky, an author who shows the tragic aspect of reality. My impression, however, is that the war has definitively dissolved the utopia of human brotherhood set out in the encyclical Fratellli tutti.”

Do you see a change of perspective?

“War is like death. It is an indelible part of man’s destiny. The idea of a universal brotherhood is absent from the Gospel and is not a Christian value.”

But Christ asked us to love one another.

Fontgombault Sermon for Low Sunday: "Together with Thomas, exclaim: My Lord and my God!"

LOW SUNDAY

(and Profession of Simple Vows of Brother P. Bochenski)

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Father Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

Fontgombault, April 24, 2022

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

     and most especially you, who are now going

     to make your religious vows,

Catechumens, who were baptised during Easter night, removed yesterday their white habits. As for you, you have chosen this morning the habit that you will now be wearing, God helping, every day of your life. When I give you the cope of professed monks, I shall pronounce upon you this prayer:

May the Lord clothe you with the new man, who from day to day renews himself in the image of Him Who created him. (Profession Ritual)

Lecture on Modernism by Dr. Kwasniewski, Friday, April 29, near Sacramento CA

This Friday, April 29th, I’ll be in Shingle Springs, California, to give a lecture on the topic: “Church Meltdown Under Pope Francis: How Did We Get Here?” (alternative title, “Pius X to Francis: From Modernism Expelled to Modernism Enthroned”).

I realize the notice is short and distances are far, but hopefully some who are in the area can make it out. The organizers ask for a quick RSVP to give them a head-count (send to ainferrera@g.ucla.edu).

Paschal Pastoral Letter of the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church: “For us, Good Friday has become our daily bread!”

[Festive Paschal Greetings from this humble page to all Eastern Catholics celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord this Sunday! May all of you, especially those in Ukraine, know that Latin Catholics are praying for you, and that we love you dearly as our most faithful brethren!]

Most Reverend Archbishops and Bishops, Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers, Venerable Brothers and Sisters in Monastic and Religious Life, Dearly Beloved Laity in Christ of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church:

 Christ is Risen!

You have descended into the depths of the earth, O Christ,

And have broken the eternal bonds which held the captive, 

And like Jonah from the whale on the third day,

You arose from the tomb!

Ode 6, Paschal Canon

Beloved in Christ!

This year we approach the Pascha of Christ in the midst of particular challenges, suffering, cruelty, indignities, and ruin. For our people, in Ukraine and abroad, it would seem that the cross of our Lord was abruptly thrust upon our shoulders from the very beginning of Great Lent, and we have already been carrying it not for a day or two, a week or two, but continuously, day and night. For us, Holy Friday has become our daily bread, our everyday reality, and we do not know when the glorious day of victory over evil, hate, and violence will come. However, precisely today our Lord calls on us to have no doubt in the victory of light over darkness, life over death, truth over falsehood, and He assures us of His love and grace. From Him, our Risen Saviour, we draw strength in the midst of our suffering today. He is the source of our hope. Therefore, together with the apostle Paul, we say today: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair… For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor. 4:8,11). In that spirit with confidence, we greet one another with the victorious salutation: Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!

You have descended into the depths of the earth, O Christ…

Hong Kong Catholic priest speaks out publicly for the first time about the persecution of the Church in China

(The following was published in The Wanderer Catholic Newspaper on March 10 and marks the first time Father Woo chose to speak out publicly about the persecution of the Church in his native country.)

By Rev Vincent Woo, JCD (Cand.)

In 1917, Our Lady appeared in Fatima and warned us that if we do not repent from our sins, the errors of Russia will spread. How true it is, given what has been going on in the past few days in Ukraine. Yet, the errors of Russia are present in other parts of the world like China as well. The Chinese Communist Party is notorious for its complete lack of respect for human dignity. One example is the restriction of religious freedom. Instead of killing early Christians like the Romans did, the CCP took a different strategy by avoiding to create martyrs. It established a state-run church independent from Rome—called the Patriotic Association—and it desired to corrupt the faith from within. The CCP really wanted Cardinal Kung—then bishop of Shanghai—to lead this national church that pledged allegiance to the state. Cardinal Kung was adamant that he would never betray his faith. The CCP arrested him in 1955, together with hundreds of Shanghai priests, religious, and lay Catholics. Cardinal Kung, together with many of these heroes of the faith, was jailed for 33 years.

Mischevious nonsense from The Pillar

Cross-posted from LMSChairman blog.

April 14th this year was Maundy Thursday. It is an interesting day for The Pillar to choose to publish a shoddy attack on two Catholic intellectuals, Prof Thomas Pink and Fr Edward Waldstein, for their alleged 'integralist' views, in an interview by Charlie Camosy with Joseph Capizzi.

“Episcopal Conference? Freedom for the Bishops!” — Article by Archbishop Aguer — strong words on Bishop Daniel Fernandez Torres

On other occasions I have criticized the current centralized ecclesiastical organization, whose key piece is the local protagonism of the Episcopal Conferences. These have assumed a political role, imitating secular parliaments. There is, in general, a Presidency and two Vice-Presidencies, elected by a majority vote of the members of the Conference. There are no formally constituted episcopal parties, but there is no lack of groups that bring together those who share a certain ecclesiology, and the same opinion on intra-ecclesial issues as well as on social and political issues of the country; undoubtedly linked to Catholic morality and the Social Doctrine of the Church.

Supporting Traditional Contemplative Religious Life for Women: A Call for Help

Rorate is pleased to share this text from a new community in process of formation, the foundress of which is known to us.

Our Lord assures the contemplative nun that not only does He accept her great desire to serve Him more directly and immediately, but He Himself has given this desire: “One thing is necessary…Mary has chosen the BEST part, and it shall never be taken from her.” (Luke 10:42)

When one finds something “optimal” in the “true and good” department, one cannot just leave it as a sidenote in one’s life. And this is even more true of the call of the contemplative nun. For the contemplative nun, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass must be Everything. The Divine Office must be Everything. Scripture and Dogma must be Everything. Silence, solitude, and mental prayer must be Everything. Life inside the cloister must be Everything. For the contemplative nun, God must be Everything and the only Thing—the unum necessarium.

“For a Catholic freedom... in the Catholic Church”: Fr Claude Barthe on the prospects of a different era to come

(Originally published in French at Res Novae on April 1, 2022)

The present pontificate, with its turmoil, could well constitute, if not the terminal phase of the post-Vatican II era, at least the approach of its end. Provided, of course, that there are men of the Church who have the necessary determination to turn the page.

Unquestionably, today we find ourselves in a pre-conclave atmosphere[1]. This does not mean that the cardinal electors will be meeting tomorrow in the Sistine Chapel. But when the day comes for the preparatory General Congregations to meet, one can only hope that a sincere assessment will be made, opening the way to a courageous examination of conscience. If not, can we hope for the adoption of a kind of interim realism, in virtue of which the Catholic forces that still exist would be allowed to live and develop?

Small town Maryland parish unveils new apse mural at Easter

Many readers will be already familiar with our parish, Saint Francis de Sales, in southern Maryland on the Patuxent River, the traditional Latin Mass having been offered here for nearly two generations, after a hiatus of about 20 years, and now a daily source of spiritual nourishment for the majority of our faithful.

The church, located in the village of Benedict, Maryland, unveiled the work of a parishioner-artist at the Easter vigil this year. The apse wall mural is in part inspired by the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament of the church of Santa Agata in Brescia.

Gold rays and clouds emit from the Paschal Lamb rose window at the roof peak, under which Saint Francis and angels ascend in glory, completed at the base with baroque architectural details of columns and cherubs surrounding the blue and gold classical pediment reredos with crucifix.

Lenin's Back

 The greatest hater of Christianity in the 20th century, whose pernicious anti-Christian influence is strong to this day worldwide; the man solely responsible for the first law liberating abortion in the modern era (Russia, 1920), unleashing the massacre of over one billion babies in the intervening century; the monster who spawned death, destruction and hell for billions: this man is now being celebrated once again in the southern Ukrainian city of Henichesk (Kherson), occupied by Russian forces.

In the Kherson region of Ukraine, Russian soldiers have installed the Lenin monument. pic.twitter.com/o1GAPLpTN7

— Franak Viačorka (@franakviacorka) April 18, 2022

 

Whatever this horrible invasion is, it isn't a promotion of Christian values... Don't let yourself be fooled by the same Cheka/NKVD/KGB/FSB that has worked incessantly since 1917 to destroy Christian civilization, also through infiltration of all our institutions. This same KGB whose agents now promote the heresy of "Moscow Third Rome" as some kind of "conservative idea" in the highest echelons of our College of Bishops.

Traditional Holy Week Sights from Around the World

Happy Easter! Our favorite images of Holy Week from those sent to us, from different continents and latitudes.

Sincere thanks to all who contributed! (If you have images from your community that you wish others to see, just send them to us for a second post.)

 

FONTGOMBAULT EASTER SERMONS 2022 (Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday): “Christ is Alive! He Reigns!”

 Easter Vigil

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau 

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

Fontgombault, April 17th, 2022

Concede nobis... cælestibus desideriis inflammari. Grant us... to be inflamed with heavenly desires. (Mk 16:6)

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

My dearly beloved Sons,

In a most unusual and abrupt way, whereas the celebrant is still wearing a purple cope, a penance-coloured vestment, the great and holy Easter Vigil opens with a prayer pronounced on the new fire:

EX ORIENTE LUX - Dominica Paschæ in Resurrectione Domini - A Meditation of Saint Alphonsus on Paradise

Osanna, Sanctus Deus Sabaoth,
superillustrans claritate tua
felices ignes horum malacoth!

L'anima d'ogne bruto e delle piante

di complession potenziata tira
lo raggio e il moto delle luci sante;

ma vostra vita sanza mezzo spira
la Somma Beninanza, e la innamora
di sé sì che poi sempre la disira.

E quinci puoi argomentare ancora
vostra resurrezion, se tu ripensi
come l'umana carne fessi allora

che li primi parenti intrambo fensi.*

Commedia, Paradiso (c. VII)

A VERY HAPPY AND HOLY EASTER TO ALL OUR READERS! 
Salve, Festa Dies: Hail, O Festive Day!

__________________________________

A MEDITATION ON PARADISE

for the Paschal Festivity

Consummatum est: "The chalice which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?"

Dixit ergo Iesus Petro: "Mitte gladium tuum in vaginam. Calicem, quem didit mihi Pater, non bibam illum?" ... "Sitio." Vas ergo erat positum aceto plenum. Illi autem spongiam plenam aceto, hyssopo circumponentes, obtulerunt ori eius. Cum ergo accepisset Iesus acetum, dixit: "Consummatum est." Et inclinato capite, tradidit spiritum. (From the Gospel for Good Friday, the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint John: "Jesus therefore said to Peter: 'Put up thy sword in the scabbard. The chalice which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?'...'I thirst.' Now there was a vessel set there, full of vinegar. And they, putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it to His mouth. Jesus therefore, when He had taken the vinegar, said: 'It is consummated.'And bowing His head, He gave up the spirit.")

Chalice - Lily. The chalice is the lily, stylized and adapted to our use, and which, born from water, is proper for us to take to our lips.

A Light in the Darkness - A NEW ITALIAN SITE - Fede Viva

 

For future reference, I’d like to present to our readers a new Italian site which exclusively addresses matters directly related to the reason for our existence –  our eternal salvation i.e. complete happiness with Our Lord in Heaven.

By way of introduction, I translated  the short  presentation on the site.

 

FEDE VIVA

A light in the darkness

LIVE, from Paris: TENEBRAE of Maundy Thursday - LAMENTATIONS by François Couperin

 

This sublime treasure of our Latin Tradition will remain available for those who wish to watch it later at this same address -- sung at the Parish of Saint Eugene and Saint Cecilia.

Dominus flevit: the destruction of Jerusalem - by Roberto de Mattei

by Roberto de Mattei

It is Palm Sunday. Jesus weeps on the Mount of Olives, where stands today the church of Dominus flevit — the place where “the Lord wept” (Lk 19:41). Before Him opens up not only the panorama of a city in celebration, whose tragic fate He knows, but also the equally dramatic picture of future ages, until the end of the world. Quae utilitas in sanguine meo? — “What profit is there in my blood?” (Ps 29:10). The thought that it will cost Him His sweat of blood in the Garden of Olives comes to His mind. The mystery of evil is before His eyes. Jerusalem will be destroyed not for its sins, but for its impenitence. Jesus, after His death and Resurrection, will offer the grace of repentance to His people, but He knows that this grace will be refused. Venient dies in te: et circumdabunt te inimici tui — “For the days shall come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation” (Lk 19:43-44).

Remembering my Dear Mother

Those readers who have been following us for a long time know that, years ago, I made repeated posts asking for your prayers for a terrible, painful, and, as in the end it turned out to be, terminal illness suffered by my mother. I made reference to her death also in several posts, including I believe this first one several years ago:

I hear the familiar sound of a car rolling down the street, and I look out the window hoping that it will be her car, that she is coming by for a visit.

It is hard to believe this will never be the case again.

I miss you, Mother... 

I wish to thank all readers who have prayed for her soul throughout these many years, especially the Monks who with extreme kindness offered a series of Gregorian Masses on her behalf. Please, pray for her soul.

NC

Perjury: Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above

MORE: In good faith, Rich, I am sorrier for your perjury than my peril. 

NORFOLK: Do you deny this? 

MORE Yes! My lords, if I were a man who heeded not the taking of an oath, you know well I need not to be here. Now I will take an oath! If what Master Rich has said is true, then I pray I may never see God in the face! Which I would not say were it otherwise for anything on earth. 

CROMWELL: That is not evidence. 

MORE: Is it probable - is it probable - that after so long a silence on this, the very point so urgently sought of me, I should open my mind to such a man as that?

Robert Bolt

A Man for All Seasons

1960

Fr. John Hardon’s Commentary on a Draft of the CCC (Part 2)

Continuing from the first part, published at Rorate Caeli yesterday (here).

Father John A. Hardon’s 1990 Comments on the “Revised Draft” of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Part II)

Robert Hickson

Bucha and Veiled Crucifixes: A Meditation for Monday in Holy Week

Father Richard Gennaro Cipolla

The images from Bucha and now from other villages outside of Kyiv that show the terrible slaughter of Ukrainian civilians of all ages by the departing Russian army are indeed difficult to look upon.  I suspect that there were similar images to be seen after the Russian destruction of parts of Syria, but we did not pay attention to those atrocities because that area of the world does not resonate very much with us. But Ukraine is part of Europe, and for all of our ambivalent feelings towards Europe, that is where most Americans come from. For most Americans today, Europe is a place to go to see beautiful things and to eat wonderful food.  There are few left today with the memory of World War II and what Europe looked like after the terrible devastation of that war.  Even the memory of the Cold War has faded—but perhaps that memory has been jolted by the war in Ukraine.

The bodies of the men, women and children lying dead in the streets of the villages north of Kyiv are shown in the news footage, some with their hands tied behind their backs, some facing upward with bullet-ridden bodies.  But in all these photos, the victims’ faces are blurred out.  This is out of respect, for the face and the eyes of a person are the signs of the identity of a person, the sign of what it means to be a man or woman in the image of God, and the eyes are a window to the soul. Even in an age in which social violence is accepted as part of the contemporary scene, these images strike deeply the cords of human compassion. 

Important study: “On Doctrinal and Moral Disorders Abiding in the Church” — Fr. John Hardon’s 1990 critique of the “revised draft” of the Catechism (Part 1)

Rorate has received from Drs. Maike and Robert Hickson the following important study, which introduces and then provides the critique written by Fr. John Hardon, S.J. (1914–2000) in 1990 when he was given the opportunity to review a “revised draft” of what would become the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The text offered here, in two parts, was first published in Christian Order in 2016 and is now being made available on the internet for the benefit of a wider readership. Ever since Pope Francis decided to use the Catechism as a Trojan Horse for his erroneous position on the death penalty, we have become aware once more of the possibility of “weaponized catechisms,” and so, Fr. Hardon’s study acquires new relevance. It should be noted that many of his just criticisms seem to have made no difference in the framing of the final text.—PAK

Father John A. Hardon’s 1990 Commentaries on the “Revised Draft” of the Catholic Catechism

(Part I)

Fontgombault Sermon for Palm Sunday 2022

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Father Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault 

Fontgombault, April 10, 2022 

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

My dearly beloved Sons,

Once again we are confronted with the mysteries of the human heart, sometimes capable to adore God and proclaim His kingship, sometimes to spurn Him to such an extent as to procure His death.

Thinking of starting up Compline? Check out these editions (English/Latin & Spanish/Latin) of the old Roman Compline

I was happy to see that, in the recent Rorate survey on the Divine Office, Vespers and Compline emerged as the frontrunners. For indeed, Vespers has always been regarded in the tradition as the primary liturgical function after Mass (as seen in the ceremonial that accompanies it), and Compline is the most comforting of prayers.

What is your favorite Hour of the Office?

— Rorate Caeli (@RorateCaeli) March 30, 2022

New Catholic recommended monastic Compline for its unchangeable structure, and as a Benedictine oblate, I agree that this feature is both highly practical and deeply consoling. But let's not forget that the old (pre-Pius X) Roman Compline was exactly the same way, showing the continuity that existed between the diocesan and monastic worlds. A beautiful new edition of the classic Tridentine Compline has been prepared by Gerhard Eger, as announced here back in December (see that post for more information):

Sophia launches “Benedictus Books” imprint with reprint of Nicholas Gihr’s 1927 classic meditations on the Dies Irae

Finally republished in gorgeous hardcover, this newly typeset edition of Msgr. Nicholaus Gihr’s 1927 classic elucidates the Dies Irae, “the giant among the hymns,” for devotional reading and meditation. As an acclaimed dogmatic theologian whose great treatise on the Holy Mass remains among the most important sources in the formation of any traditional seminarian or priest, Msgr. Gihr is the perfect guide to the spiritual exercise of meditating on our final end.

 

Please, send us your Holy Week pictures - the year after Traditionis Custodes

 

Tradition is alive!

It is more alive now than ever. 

Some have tried to suffocate it with the cruelly named "Traditionis custodes"; and the dubia (questions that nobody asked) by Cardinal Roche tried to ban the Holy Triduum.

And yet... the upcoming Holy Week will prove this attempt has failed. So in order to check the vitality of the Traditional Roman Rite around the world at this moment in time, we ask all of you who attend ceremonies of Holy Week in this rite (1955, 1962, it doesn't matter) to send us your favorite image from your area. Please identify them in the subject as "HOLY WEEK PICTURE" - mail them to newcatholic@gmail.com.

We will post all of them together on Easter Monday, one for each place, as a display of mutual solidarity and strength. Thank you!

FSSP Holy Week in Harrisburg, Pa.

 

FSSP Holy Week in Conshohocken, Pa.

 

Announcing Fr. Charles Murr’s new book of memoirs, Murder in the 33rd Degree: The Gagnon Investigation into Vatican & Freemasonry

In Catholic discourse today, one notices two extremes when the question of Freemasonry and its (past or present) penetration into the Church hierarchy is raised.

"In black and white": Archbishop Aguer on tradition versus relativism

"In black and white": Archbishop Aguer on tradition versus relativism

Published at InfoCatólica on March 30, 2022. Translated for Rorate.

The title that heads this note does not refer to the cinema before the invention of technicolor, but to the astonishing criticism of current ecclesiastical officialdom that is directed against the members of the Church who love the great Catholic Tradition, and who recognize that homogeneity is what should characterize the development of ecclesial realities: dogma, liturgy, law, institutions. I have often quoted St. Vincent of Lerins and the formulas he coined in his Commonitory. Those realities can be expressed nove (in a new way), according to the cultural contexts of certain times and places; but in the deposit to be transmitted one cannot include nova, new things, novelties, which imply a heterogeneity with respect to the origins.

 

German theologian H. Hoping: "The Synodal Way changes the architecture of the doctrine of knowledge"

German theologian H. Hoping: "The Synodal Way Changes the Architecture of the Doctrine of Knowledge"

Translated from Die Tagespost, March 30, 2022

The Synodal Way recognizes "the signs of the times" as a third source of revelation alongside Scripture and Tradition: this is what the "orientation text" says that was adopted at the third synodal assembly in a second reading with the required quorum of episcopal two-thirds majority. The text speaks of "times of theology" that "allow the 'today' of God's voice to be discovered in different contexts in each case." Finally, the signs of the times are expressly described as places of revelation: "The signs of the times stand for moments in which something significant reveals itself and forces a decision."

"Do we have a breathing space?": Article by Michael Charlier

"Do we have a breathing space?": Article by Michael Charlier

Published on March 30, 2022 on the author's German website.

At first glance, one might think that the attack on the traditional liturgy, carried out under the banner of Traditionis Custodes, has come to a halt. The fact that our attention is currently occupied by matters considered more important reinforces this impression. With the papal edict that allows the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter to use the preconciliar books, at least for internal use, has the danger for the ancient rite communities been averted? Does the fact that a great many—as far as we can see, the great majority—of the bishops worldwide have granted (or denied!) to the traditional liturgy, even after Custodes Traditionis, roughly the same latitude as before, mean that the motu proprio is fizzling out into ineffectiveness?

Reminder: Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society

This is our monthly reminder to please enroll Souls of the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society. In the last 30 days we lost one priest due to time constraints and gained a new priest. We now stand at 112 priests saying weekly or monthly traditional Latin Masses for the Souls. 

** Click here to download a "fillable" PDF Mass Card in English to give to the loved ones of the Souls you enroll (you send these to the family and/or friends of the dead, not to us). 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.

The Hours at the Abbey - 1: MATINS

It is still quite dark, even though we are in June. Summer is around the corner, but the air is very cold and very damp. The roosters are quiet.

We open the gate, and the temperature inside the vast nave is even colder. Flickering candles are the only sign of human presence. Moments later, the first noises are the ruffling of dozens of habits as the choir stalls fill one by one.

The Great Silence is finally broken: words, not very audible from the nave, and then a chant: VENITE, EXSULTEMUS DOMINO...