The hermeneutic of continuity

New Fundamental Law for Hungary: pro-life, pro-family

2012-01-27T13:51:00.002Z

Hungary has passed a new fundamental law which, among other things, protects the rights of the family and of the unborn child. The new law replaces the communist era constitution. I am grateful to C-Fam for their report on this: Hungary Defies Critics With New Family Law. They give a link to the draft of 25 April 2011 which was passed, though I don't know whether amendments were made to it (some of the points in the C-Fam report can't be found in the draft.) In any case, there are some elements that look very good.

The Fundamental Law establishes a national holiday on 20 August to commemorate the founding of the state and its founder, St Stephen, as well as 23 of October, to commemorate the 1956 uprising.

Under the Basic Stipulations, Article M (1) states:

(1) Hungary protects the institution of marriage between man and woman, a matrimonial relationship voluntarily established, as well as the family as the basis for the survival of the nation.
(2) Hungary supports child-bearing.
(3) The protection of families is regulated by a super majority law.

Under Freedom and Responsibility, Article II. states:

Human dignity is inviolable. Everyone has the right to life and human dignity; the life of a foetus will be protected from conception.

and how about article XV (2-4). for some common sense:

(2) Parents have the right select the upbringing for their children.
(3) Parents are obliged to care for their minor children. This obligation encompasses the need to ensure the education of their children.
(4) Adult children will be obliged to care for their parents in need.

Predictably, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have complained because of the clause protecting the rights of the unborn child.

SPUC Conference on Maternal Health

2012-01-27T13:21:00.000Z

SPUC are holding a conference on abortion and maternal health. This is a question that is often used by the culture of death to promote abortion, so it is an important issue to address. You can find all the details at the SPUC website: Abortion or maternal health. there are materials linked there to help prepare for the conference, and you can book for it online.

The main speaker is Professor Robert Walley and he will be joined by legal expert Dr Roger Kiska of Alliance Defence Fund, consultant obstetrician gynaecologist Dr Obi Ideh from Nigeria, and maternal health campaigner Mrs Fiorella Nash.

Fiorella has also written an article for the SPUC blog: Pro-abortion ideology is costing lives of women in developing countries. If there are any complications, childbirth can be risky both for mothers and for their babies. It is right that we should do all that we can to help mothers in developing countries. The pro-abortion lobby has muscled in on this issue with their false assertion that legal abortion equals safe abortion, and their promotion of abortion as an answer to maternal mortality. It is good to see SPUC tackling this question.

Petition against communion in the hand

2012-01-27T12:39:00.001Z

My good friend, Fr Andrew Wise, of the diocese of Sale in Victoria (Australia), together with Fr John Speekman, has drawn up a petition to the Holy Father which reads as follows:

Your Holiness,

We are convinced of the great spiritual harm inflicted on the Catholic faithful, and the profanation of the Blessed Sacrament that often occurs by the practice of Communion received on the hand.

We implore Your Holiness to personally intervene to restore once again the normative practice of reception of Holy Communion on the tongue alone.

There is also a blog in support of the petition. Andrew Rabel wrote a piece to give a little background to the petition, and Cardinal Arinze has written in support of the piece. Bishop Schneider has also written in support, and has signed the petition.I have also signed the petition. Many ordinary laity receive Holy Communion in the hand because that is what they were taught to do; in some cases they were told that it was the more proper, reverent, ancient, grown-up, or modern way to receive Holy Communion. Bishop Schneider's book "It is the Lord" (sold in England by Gracewing) answers all of the usual justifications for the practice and urgently recommends a return to the practice of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue.

Apart from the major concern over the danger of profanation with Communion in the hand, the "sign value" of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue distinguishes the act of receiving Holy Communion from an ordinary act of taking an ordinary snack to eat. Little toddlers recognise this if they accompany their mother to the altar rail: when Mum receives Holy Communion in the hand, they will often ask "Can I have one?"; this is much less common if Mum receives Holy Communion on the tongue. They are given an early lesson in the difference between the Eucharist and ordinary bread.

Sign the petition here.

Our Lady of the Rosary from the Galera Real

2012-01-26T18:54:00.000Z

The carving of Our Lady of the Rosary which adorned the Christian flagship, the Galera Real at the battle of Lepanto has been recovered and is being restored. Fr Z advised me of this news earlier today as it is of particular interest for a parish dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. Father has himself posted about it: Statue of Our Lady at 1571 Battle of Lepanto comes to light! ABC Salud has an article in Spanish which highlights the importance of the find.

For a brief account of the battle of Lepanto, there was a good post on the feast day last year at Roman Christendom. (An additional point that I like to emphasise is that 12,000 Christian galley slaves were freed as a result of the victory.)

This evening, after speaking to the candidates for Confirmation, I was struck by the position of the crescent moon over our statue of Our Lady. An antiphon used in the Office, and for the Catena of the Legion of Mary is:

Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?

It is good to know that as well as protecting Europe from invasion and slavery, Our Blessed Mother is looking after the suburb of Blackfen. This photo was taken from just outside my front door.

CD 248 - arguments on Twitter

2012-01-24T22:00:00.001Z

I enjoy interacting with other people on Twitter but find that sometimes I get into rather uncharitable arguments with atheists and even with fellow Catholics. I wonder if it is too much of a temptation.

As with all social media, Twitter can be used for good or evil. It is an effective way for people to share information, views and arguments. At its best, it can be a part of Pope Benedict’s vision of co-workers for the truth engaging in evangelisation. At its worst, it can be used as a form of cyber-bullying. People can also bully others by writing nasty letters on paper, so there is nothing new under the sun. It is not the means of communication that is the problem but our use of it.

The immediacy of exchanges on Twitter does mean that it can be tempting to try to be sharp or witty, and sometimes to be unkind to others. On the other hand, people who engage in exchanges such as these generally know the territory and, within reasonable limits, can take the rough with the smooth. We need not be over scrupulous about using a means of communication which offers the opportunity for robust debate, but we should be aware of the temptation to anger, jealousy, and pride, as well as looking out for those who may have got out of their depth and need our support and advice.

In our own examination of conscience on this matter, we simply look, as we always do, at the commandments and the virtues and corresponding vices. The virtue of charity is naturally our primary consideration when communicating with others; and charity includes the love of the truth and its eloquent expression. Although we use them in a different way from Cicero and Demosthenes, we are essentially still trying to use the skills of rhetoric to inform, persuade and motivate. Unlike the ancients, we have a gospel to preach from the Word made flesh. If we can use modern tools of communication to do so, that is a genuine apostolate, and one that has been encouraged several times by Pope Benedict.

Catholic Dilemma 248 published in the Catholic Herald

Catholic Dilemmas

2012-01-24T21:57:00.001Z

Each week I write an article of roughly 350 words for the Catholic Herald which has the title Catholic Dilemmas. This is a good writing discipline since at that length you can't afford to waste words, and it is a challenge to answer some of the questions in the limit. I don't have the option to waffle on longer.

In correspondence with the Editor, Luke Coppen, I discovered that I had been too coy about posting the articles here. Since I am paid a fee for them, I felt that it was not my business just to publish them at will. However publishing is changing fast and the editor is happy for me to post my articles - and indeed to have a link to the Herald to boot. So you'll be getting my CDs, as we call them, regularly from now on - after the print edition of the paper is out.

You might also be able to help by submitting dilemmas. Remember that I have to answer them in 350 words. I do make a point of limiting liturgical articles - I do some, but want to keep a balance between those questions, moral, spiritual, and doctrinal questions and occasional light-hearted and off-the-wall items. Feel free to pose dilemmas in the combox but please don't expect me to reply there. You may help me to get the article written a little earlier than just before the deadline but I can't operate a general internet agony uncle service. (Funerals, Baptisms, visiting to do, Masses to say, you know the sort of thing.)

I just filed CD number 249 today so I'll post up some of the back catalogue in due course. In another post, I'll ask about how to get the whole lot online in the most efficient way possible. (They are all in Word files.)

Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma meeting at Blackfen

2012-01-21T14:40:00.001Z

The Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma will be holding its next meeting at Blackfen on Saturday 18 February 2012. Here are the details:

10:30am Low Mass (Our Lady’s Saturday)
11:00am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with Confession, followed by Benediction
12:00pm Talk by Fr Sam Medley SOLT: “Blogging as an instrument of ecclesial communion”
1:00pm Lunch (donations welcome)
2:30pm Informal meeting of the Guild
3.30pm Final prayers and departure

All Catholics who use the new media, either as bloggers or users of social networking sites, are welcome to attend the Guild meeting and/or join the Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma.

Address: 330a Burnt Oak Lane, Sidcup, Kent DA15 8LW
Directions are here

We had a bit of a discussion about whether to have the meeting at Blackfen again. Some were worried that it might be imposing on our hospitality. That is certainly not a problem: I am more than happy to host such a group and there are plenty of people here who are willing to help out. From my side, I was worried that Blackfen is a little out of the way, and I didn't want to hog the show, but others said that they liked coming here last time and wanted to come again. The next meeting will probably be elsewhere so that it is fairer to people who don't live in London and the South East.

If anyone would like to come but has problems over expenses for train fares etc. just let me know (in the strictest confidence - email info@blackfencatholic.org.) The lunch is provided on a donations basis so if you have already had to shell out to get here, you don't need to give anything, and those who have a bit of spare cash can cover the cost: given the normal generosity of people the parish isn't going to lose out.

From one mother to another

2012-01-19T19:19:00.002Z

Simcha Fisher who writes for the National Catholic Register is always worth reading. Today she speaks To the mother with only one child. Her advice is drawn from her own experience of being a mother of one child - but also from her present experience of being a mother of nine. (Mothers of nine were all at one time mothers of one.)

Her article is a master-class of what the Fathers of Vatican II referred to as the lay apostolate. This was not invented in the 1960s; before then there was a thriving lay apostolate in the Church. Unfortunately, for various reasons, it was, to a large degree, emasculated after the council, in favour of lay ministry.

The difference is this: as a priest, I can distribute Holy Communion, I can read out the scriptures, I can celebrate the Liturgy. If lay people do these things, they are essentially helping the priest.

As a priest, I cannot campaign in a trade union for the social teaching of the Church, I cannot gather employees of a bank to say the Rosary during the coffee break, I cannot run a business that gives its employees decent conditions of work. Only lay people can do those things - and there would be many more (and probably better) examples to lengthen the list.

And I cannot tell a mother from experience, about the joys and trials of bringing up children - only a lay woman can do that.As Pope Benedict said (to the Scottish Bishops on their 2010 ad limina visit):

Hand in hand with a proper appreciation of the priest's role is a correct understanding of the specific vocation of the laity. Sometimes a tendency to confuse lay apostolate with lay ministry has led to an inward-looking concept of their ecclesial role. Yet the Second Vatican Council's vision is that wherever the lay faithful live out their baptismal vocation – in the family, at home, at work – they are actively participating in the Church's mission to sanctify the world. A renewed focus on lay apostolate will help to clarify the roles of clergy and laity and so give a strong impetus to the task of evangelizing society.

Simcha Fisher has given a fine example of the lay apostolate that Pope Benedict was encouraging.

Please stop saying "vibrant"

2012-01-19T18:54:00.000Z

Can we all stop using the word "vibrant", please.

I have mixed feelings about the film Braveheart but one line that I do like is when Mel Gibson as William Wallace rides out to the parley on the battlefield at Stirling and says "Ah'm goin tae pick a fight". I have waited for a propitious moment to pick this one, fearful of being seen as attacking any particular person who has recently used the word "vibrant" in print (in fact, only today I saw two examples) but I dive in because scarcely a day goes by without seeing something described as vibrant.

Politicians, Bishops, schools, supermarkets, councils, advertising agencies, the local environmental and climate change awareness group, the police, social services, and Uncle Tom Cobley and all, nowadays describe themselves, their activities or their "communities" as vibrant.

Are the communities vibrating or quivering in some way?

Faith Magazine latest issue online

2012-01-18T21:22:00.000Z

I haven't read it yet, but this is just a heads-up that the January edition of Faith Magazine is now online. Sir Dan of the blogosphere tells me that William Oddie is especially worth looking at. I'll be attending to it over my cocoa later.

Catholic question on Brain of Britain

2012-01-18T19:09:00.000Z

Question on Brain of Britain on Monday afternoon (I was in the car):

Which Catholic martyr became both Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of Cambridge University in 1504?

[pause.] Em. Thomassss ...er... Thomas Cranmer

Another contestant gave the right answer and the presenter went on to say

Yes. Cardinal John Fisher who was beheaded on the order of King Henry VIII at Tower Hill in 1535 because he refused to accept Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn or the suppression of English Catholicism.

which is not bad for the BBC.

I thought that the contestant might be going to say "Thomasssss MORE" which would have been a less disastrous mistake. Of course we don't expect everyone to know all about our history and I don't want to attack the poor chap for not knowing everying, but Thomas Cranmer was perhaps about the worst answer he could have given.

Boys and technology

2012-01-18T18:59:00.000Z

With my new iPad and Kindle, and my soon-to-be-out-of-contract Android phone, I went last week to the John Fisher School to speak to the boys of the Faith group about the use of new technology in evangelisation. One of the main points that I made was that technology can be morally neutral in itself and can be used for great good and for great evil (though as a part of creation, with the input of human intelligence, it is fundamentally good.) Our duty is to make sure that we use it for the good - especially by proclaiming the truth of the teaching of the Catholic Church, and for assisting others to know and love Jesus Christ.

After the talk there were some good questions and the boys enjoyed playing with the iPad. They referred to the "washing machine" effect when you twist it and make the display go rapidly from portrait to landscape and back again.

In November I wrote about the blaze that had destroyed the house called Takapuna, formerly the home of several priests who taught at the school, and the place where the meetings of the Faith Movement were held from its foundation in 1972. We used to pack into Fr Roger Nesbitt's study for a talk on the faith and lively discussion, followed by tea and buttered toast (a tradition that is still preserved.) Above you can see a photo of the house. Here is what it looks like now:

As those who know Sir Dan of the blogosphere would expect, he has interpreted this as a symbol of the devastation in the Church. However we "Keep calm and carry on." There are still vocations from the John Fisher School and I pray that this tradition will also be preserved along with buttered toast.

A joke from the club

2012-01-18T09:00:00.001Z

Here's a Wednesday morning joke scheduled to go up as you arrive at the office. It is from Alex whom I see in the parish club regularly. It is rare that he doesn't have a good one to share. Here's the latest:

I had to contact SeaWorld the other day. When I rang them, the message said: "Your call may be recorded for training porpoises."

How to react to criticism

2012-01-17T22:21:00.000Z

Personally I have never experienced anything but kindness and good spiritual provision from Opus Dei, since I first went on a retreat at Wickenden Manor as a teenage boy some 40 years ago. As a priest I find that the Days of Recollection are a great help and I wish that my parish activities would allow me to attend more regularly.

Still, there are others who criticise various things about Opus Dei, or about particular members. Such discussion is bound to be a part of the life of the Church when a religious society is so effective in its apostolate and powerful in its work for the Church. None of us should expect to be immune from criticism; what matters is how we respond to it.

There is a good example of the approach of Opus Dei on Laurence England's blog. A couple of weeks ago, he wrote a post suggesting that an unemployed person would not be welcomed. The other day, Fr Paul Hayward replied openly, politely and with genuine charity and warmth. It is a fine priestly example of how to react to criticism.

Ordinariate Pastoral letter

2012-01-17T22:09:00.000Z

Mgr Keith Newton issued a pastoral letter for the first anniversary of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. I was especially encouraged by this passage:

What of the future? We face it with faith and hope, committing it to the Lord. There is a constant stream of men and women being received into the full communion of the Catholic Church through the Ordinariate, we expect several new groups to be received at Easter and we are preparing for a number of ordinations to the priesthood around Pentecost. In addition several young men are exploring the possibility of ordination within the Ordinariate.

I made copies of the pastoral letter available in my parish because it will help some people to understand what the Ordinariate is. As Mgr Newton explains, many Catholics have had no contact with the Ordinariate and misunderstand it.

A Catholic physics joke

2012-01-10T22:40:00.002Z

I'm sure many of you will have heard this already but I do claim the privilege of hearing the joke when at a Christmas party where a relative of mine was present who does actually work at CERN.

A Higgs Boson particle walks into a Catholic Church. So the priest comes up to him and says "Oi you! Higgs Boson! You can't come in 'ere."

So the Higgs Boson particle says, "Without me you can't have any mass."

Incidentally, as I understand the explanation given to me, the people at CERN haven't discovered the Higgs Boson particle, they have found various places where it doesn't exist, thus narrowing down the possibilities for places where it does, and making it more likely that they will find it in the end. But I am sure that is an over-simplification.

Ordinariate anniversary celebration

2012-01-10T19:52:00.003Z

The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is celebrating the first anniversary of its foundation with Evensong and Benediction at St James's, Spanish Place, next Sunday 15 January at 5pm. The Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton will be the celebrant.

I love the idea of Evensong and Benediction, combining the best of the Anglican patrimony with the quintessentially Catholic service of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I regret that I will not be able to be there as I have my own evening Mass in the parish, but I would very much like to host a celebration of Evensong and Benediction at Blackfen some time.

It would be particularly good to have the psalms sung according to the beautiful four part settings that I became familiar with many years ago at various chapels in Oxford. They could be a part of "mutual enrichment" if Catholic choirs singing Mass in English were to use them for the psalm at Mass, as used to happen at St Aloysius when I was in the choir there.

UPDATE: Also sung Evensong and Benediction at The Chapel of St. John Fisher, Guildhall Street, Cambridge on Sunday 22 January, 6pm. This is catching on ...

Non mittendus canibus

2012-01-03T18:38:00.000Z

"Canadian priestess sorry for giving dog Holy Communion" was the heading of an email in my inbox today. (Actually the BBC report doesn't use the word "priestess" which I understand is considered disrespectful for some unfathomable reason.) According to the BBC report, the local Bishop said that her actions "had contravened church policy." The Toronto Star reports that Bishop Yu did indeed write to a complaining parishioner that,

"it is not the policy of the Anglican Church to give communion to animals."

If it is a matter of policy, I wonder whether it might change tomorrow after a debate in Synod or Council or Moot or something. Theologically, the BBC gets it right, perhaps unintentionally, by captioning a photo with the words:

"The dog took the biscuit but no wine was offered to the animal"

Episcopalian Church; woman priest; biscuit and wine. Correct.

The Toronto Star comes in with a bit of theological nuance, saying that the bread and wine are meant to represent the body and blood of Jesus Christ and are only to be given to those who have been baptized. Yes, probably a bit of representation going on there as far as some of the congregation are concerned, but not much if we are to believe the "deputy people’s warden"

“I think it was this natural reaction: here’s this dog, and he’s just looking up, and she’s giving the wafers to people and she just gave one to him,” ... “Anybody might have done that. It’s not like she’s trying to create a revolution.”

(An incidental problem for trendies wanting to give "the wafer" to dogs is that they are not likely to follow the more modern practice of receiving in the hand.)

Now of course we have to hope sincerely that this would not happen in a Catholic Church in, say, Austria or Belgium (with viral YouTube video.) If it were to do so, we would be thrown back to the Terrible Middle Ages, the debate on the real presence, and the brilliance of Lanfranc who contested the heresy of Berengarius. The dog would actually receive the res et sacramentum, the body and blood of Christ, but this would be a sacrilege because he would (through no fault of his own, just the circumstance of not having a spiritual soul) not be a fit subject to receive the res tantum, the grace of the sacrament.

It is worth reflecting that if we receive Holy Communion unworthily, we eat and drink judgement unto ourselves. Sometimes it is right to wait until we have received sacramental absolution.

Ecce Panis Angelorum,
Factus cibus viatorum
Vere panis filiorum,
Non mittendus canibus

Cardinal Ranjith calls for return of Vetus Ordo

2011-12-30T13:34:00.001Z

NLM has published the text of a letter written by Cardinal Ranjith to the General Assembly of the International Federation Una Voce in which His Eminence invites us to encourage the return of the older form of the Roman Rite as a part of the renewal of the Church desired by the Fathers of Vatican II:

Liturgy for this reason can never be what man creates. For if we worship the way we want and fix the rules ourselves, then we run the risk of recreating Aaron's golden calf. We ought to constantly insist on worship as participation in what God Himself does, else we run the risk of engaging in idolatry. Liturgical symbolism helps us to rise above what is human to what is divine. In this, it is my firm conviction that the Vetus Ordo represents to a great extent and in the most fulfilling way that mystical and transcendent call to an encounter with God in the liturgy. Hence the time has come for us to not only renew through radical changes the content of the new Liturgy, but also to encourage more and more a return of the Vetus Ordo, as a way for a true renewal of the Church, which was what the Fathers of the Church seated in the Second Vatican Council so desired.

I heartily agree that the old Roman rite represents the most fulfilling way in which we can encounter God in the liturgy. It is good to hear a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church affirm this so straightforwardly.

I wish our beloved Pope Benedict XVI many years and even more years; but when God eventually calls him home, it would be a fitting counterpoint to the jubilation of his own election if it were announced from the balcony of St Peter's "... Habemus Papam! Eminentissimum ac reverendissimum Dominum, Dominum Malcolm, Sanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ Cardinalem RANJITH! ..."

Responsible drinking advice Fail

2011-12-30T13:17:00.001Z

At a restaurant I visited recently, the above card was on the table. I was amused by the advice to "Enjoy Alcohol Responsibly" after the offer of an extra free bottle of wine if you purchase four.

A milestone in the decline in Latin?

2011-12-29T19:29:00.000Z

Perhaps readers may be able to help with this query from Hughie in the combox of my previous post:

I understand that in view of the concerns expressed by the Council Fathers, Pope Paul VI set up a commission of three cardinals to examine the question of whether the particular Churches should be allowed to communicate with the dicasteries of the Roman Curia in languages other than Latin. It is my understanding that Scotland’s William Theodore Cardinal Heard was one of the three. I believe that Cardinal Roberti MAY have been one of the others.

The problem is, I have never been able to locate anything about the report of the commission or anything about what Pope Paul VI decided, although it is obvious that they recommended, and the Pope accepted, that it was unreasonable/unadvisable (sic) to insist on the local Churches communicating in Latin.

I wondered if, bearing in mind your expertise in the Latin, you knew anything about this.

I am afraid that I don't know anything about this commission. If you do, and especially if you have any links to put in the combox, that would be very helpful. It is interesting to hear about such a commission. If it existed as described, it would be typical of its time.

In the process of extirpating Latin from the life of the Church, it was often competent latinists who were most in favour of the vernacular. The attitude was to look condescendingly on students and priests who did not have good Latin and argue that it was pointless requiring them to say the breviary in Latin. In support of this attitude there were plenty of jokes told about ignorant priests who made mistakes in Latin. In those days, such attitudes were fashionable to the point that people were ridiculed routinely if they expressed a contrary opinion.

The stereotype of the ignorant parish clergy was always unfair. While the Latin of some was rudimentary, many priests had reasonably good Latin, and many improved over time through the conscientious recitation of the breviary.

There is a postscript to Hughie's comment concerning Cardinal Heard. There were many stories about him still doing the rounds when I was in Rome. They were not edifying - though again they were fashionable in an iconoclastic way. He and Cardinal Roberti may have been good latinists: there were still plenty around in Rome in the early 1960s. However I think that Cardinal Bacci was considered the doyen of latinists in the 1950s and, after him, Cardinal Felici. Reggie Foster spoke of Felici with awe: one tale he told us was that he could, ex tempore, compose hexameters in perfect metre .

In my time at Rome (1980-1985) Canon Law was still taught in Latin. Reggie told us of one lecturer who was particularly respected for his use of Latin. On one occasion I went with another student to his class in Canon Law: he beamed when we told him that we were not canonists but wished to hear his Latin.

It always irritated me that the theology lectures were given in Italian. The Italian of many of the teachers would have been no better than the Latin of some in previous years. Most students in Rome have to learn Italian from scratch: it would be far more use to them to learn Latin. What then happens is that a culture builds in which at least some take a pride in learning the language well. Others won't bother; but then there were always students who spent five or six years in Rome without being to speak Italian fluently. If Latin were part of the culture, some would learn Latin and Italian fluently while others wouldn't bother too much: but at least there would be an opportunity.

If that culture is present, then you also have a foundation for the cultivation of Latin at a higher level. At one time, People like Cardinals Bacci were admired for their Latin; it was seen as an accomplishment to be respected. I lived through the time when that admiration gave way to scorn and derision. Please God the process can be reversed as a younger generation begins again to treasure the wisdom of the ancients and the knowledge of their languages.

Finally listening to Blessed John XXIII?

2011-12-28T13:07:00.000Z

Blessed Pope John XXIII, in the Apostolic Constitution Veterum Sapientia of 1962, strongly mandated the study and use of Latin in ecclesiastical studies, theology, the Liturgy, and as a prerequisite for priestly formation. This February, there is to be an International Convention in Rome to mark the 50th anniversary of Veterum Sapientia. I can't help thinking that after 50 years we are perhaps finally prepared to take the document of the Blessed Pope seriously.

Here is one passage from the standard translation that you can find in various places on the internet:

Of its very nature Latin is most suitable for promoting every form of culture among peoples. It gives rise to no jealousies. It does not favor any one nation, but presents itself with equal impartiality to all and is equally acceptable to all.

And here is the Latin original:

Suae enim sponte naturae lingua Latina ad provehendum apud populos quoslibet omnem humanitatis cultum est peraccommodata: cum invidiam non commoveat, singulis gentibus se aequabilem praestet, nullius partibus faveat, omnibus postremo sit grata et amica.

The translators didn't want to say that Latin was pleasing and friendly to all, only that it was "acceptable." Hmmph! You can see that Veterum Sapientia was going to become a dead letter quite quickly.

It is true that Optatam Totius, Vatican II's Decree on Priestly Training (1965) said that before beginning specifically ecclesiastical subjects, seminarians should acquire a knowledge of Latin (n.13) but that was largely ignored too. In fact, the current code of canon law says that students for the priesthood should understand Latin well (canon 249) and Pope Benedict said:

Speaking more generally, I ask that future priests, from their time in the seminary, receive the preparation needed to understand and to celebrate Mass in Latin, and also to use Latin texts and execute Gregorian chant; (Sacramentum Caritatis n.62)

Pope Benedict also spoke to the German Bishops on their 2006 Ad Limina visit, of the classical languages in the context of the introductory course before beginning study at the seminary;

"In this regard, Vatican Council II, in its decree ‘Optatam Totius’, established important norms that, unfortunately, have not yet been completely implemented. This is particularly true of the institution of what is called the introductory course before the beginning of real and proper study. This should not only transmit a solid understanding of the classical languages, which is expressly required for the study of philosophy and theology, but also familiarity with the catechism, together with the religious, liturgical, and sacramental practice of the Church. In the face of the growing number of interested persons and candidates who no longer come from a traditional Catholic formation, such an introductory year is urgently needed. Furthermore, during this year the student can attain greater clarity on the vocation to the priesthood. Besides this, the persons responsible for priestly formation have the possibility of getting an idea of the candidate, of his human maturity and his faith life. But the so-called role-playing games with a group dynamic, the groups of self-exploration, and other psychological experiments are less adapted for this purpose, and can create confusion and uncertainty instead."

Here is the Programme for the Convention on Veterum Sapientia.

Happy Christmas

2011-12-25T12:29:00.001Z

Happy Christmas to all of you. Thank you for your witness to the faith, thank you for making the world a better place by raising your families, by being priests, by living the evangelical counsels, by being an apostolic single people in the world, and by all the other things that you do for the glory of God. And thank you for reading my blog. May God bless you and all your loved ones on this glorious feast.

Christ the embryo recognised

2011-12-23T22:45:00.002Z

Youth Defence, the upbeat Irish pro-life group, produced this video to help promote the pro-life message for Christmas. In recent years we have come to know more than our forbears about the process of life in the womb; it is right that we apply this to the growth of Jesus Christ from a single-celled embryo.

Remember that after Our Lady conceived Our Lord in her womb, she went with haste to the hill country of Judea to visit St Elizabeth who asked why she should be honoured with a visit from the mother of her Lord. The twenty-four week foetus, St John the Baptist leapt in the womb in recognition of Christ. Both of them recognised their Saviour when he was perhaps a five day old embryo.

Help for parish website designers

2011-12-23T08:07:00.000Z

The Church and New Media is a good site for you if you are starting out on producing (or updating) a parish website. The Resources page has some good "five things..." type articles.

For what it's worth, my own advice to people at the moment is to get a good domain name that people can spell correctly when they hear it on the phone. Mine is now "blackfencatholic dot org" When it included the word "rosary", a lot of people not familiar with the faith (and some who are) spelt it "rosemary" - I do get letters addressed to "Our Lady of the Rosemary" from time to time.

If you host the website with a US firm, not only will you save some pennies in present economic circumstances, you also get a top-level domain (.org rather than .org.uk) with less fuss and expense than from an English company.

Then get Wordpress installed and have the posts on the homepage so that your site is easily updated. Wordpress also makes it easy to update your static pages too. It can be worth spending a few pennies (actually not much more than that) on a professionally produced template which can save you a bit of time: most of them are quite customisable.

Above you can see the homepage of my own parish website for my parish of Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen. Not difficult to do. (Feel free to fire away with your suggestions for improvement!)

Chen Guangchen and further shame on the Chinese government

2011-12-22T19:11:00.001Z

In 2006, 2009 and earlier this year I posted on the courageous blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng who exposed and spoke out against the policy of forced abortion and sterilisation in the Shandong Province in China.Thanks to Batman star Christian Bale, his case has been given worldwide publicity via CNN.

LifeSite News has the story; it was also reported in the Daily Telegraph, the Sun, and many other news outlets throughout the world; though both the Telegraph and the Sun fail to mention just exactly what human rights Chen was campaigning for - namely the right of women not to be subject to forced sterilisation and the right of women and babies not to be subjected to the process of forced abortion.

John Smeaton has highlighted a campaign which originated as a gesture of support for Chen on his 40th birthday on 12 November - but I'm sure further contributions would be welcome (they do say that the campaign will only end when Chen is free.) Chen is blind and the idea is that you send in a photo of yourself wearing sunglasses. Details are at Women's Rights Without Frontiers. There are various suggestions - you can hold a banner saying "Free Chen Guangcheng" in English and Chinese (a banner is provided at the website.)

I thought it would be good to hold a picture of Our Lady of China. Our Lady's compassion and love for the Chinese people is in stark contrast to the repression and cruelty towards women and children shown by the Chinese government. (I have uploaded the graphic in full resolution so that you can use it if you want - apologies if this makes the blog load slowly.)

According to the Telegraph report, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin, when asked if publicity has been embarrassing for the Chinese government, said he thought Christian Bale should feel embarrassed not China. This is a typical repressive government's inversion of the truth. The Chinese government should indeed feel embarrassed - by its treatment of Christian Bale, by its torture of Chen Guangcheng and his wife for expressing the legitimate views of so many of the Chinese people, and by its appalling policy of forced abortion and sterilisation.

The Chinese people are noble and upright, they can be proud of a culture that could enrich discourse in the world, they have a thriving Christian Church, and they deserve better than a government which kills babies, degrades women, and fails to show the most elementary courtesy of an apology when treating a distinguished visitor with contempt merely for trying to visit and show support to one of their most respected citizens. Their government should bow its head in shame and free Chen Guangcheng.

CCC meetings forthcoming

2011-12-20T23:08:00.000Z

Just picked up from the feed of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy that there are meetings for the Western Chapter on 23 January and 6 March, and there is a meeting for the Southern Chapter at St Patrick's, Soho Square on Thursday 9 February. Details at the CCC website.

I should be able to make the February meeting in London so look forward to seeing some confreres there.

Taking it on the chin

2011-12-20T22:34:00.000Z

In his book "The Stripping of the Altars", Eamonn Duffy tells of how the priest would quiz parishioners at their Easter shriving on whether they had carried out the works of mercy. One of those works is to visit people in prison. The other day, our Holy Father did this, going to see the prisoners at Rebbibia in Rome. He did a Q&A session in which one exchange went:

Q. My name is Federico. ... What can sick and HIV-positive prisoners ask of the Pope? ... We are barely mentioned, but, when we are, in aggressive terms, as if seeking to have us eliminated from society. This makes us feel subhuman.

A. "We have to endure the fact that people speak about us 'aggressively'. They also speak 'aggressively' about the Pope, yet nonetheless we move on. I think it is important to encourage everyone to think positively, to understand your sufferings, to understand the need to help you rise again. I will do my part, inviting everyone to think in the right way, not abusively but humanly, understanding that anyone can fall, but God wants everyone to reach Him. We must cooperate in a spirit of fraternity recognising our own fragility so that people can truly so that they can truly rise up and move forward with dignity, so that they may grow and thus find happiness in life, because life is granted to us by the Lord ... . The Lord will help you and we are close to you."

Rather moving, I thought. It reminded me of an old story from the CDF which I report as I remember it. One week, Cardinal Ratzinger was shown a copy of an Italian newspaper which had a hatchet piece about him. The junior official was nervous, thinking that the Cardinal would be angry. He read the piece through, then said "If I did not read something like that about myself each week, I would know that I was not doing my job."

H/T Rorate Caeli

Christmas at Blackfen

2011-12-20T22:10:00.002Z

For a couple of years, we were the only place in England to have solemn High Mass at midnight for Christmas. Now, I think there are one or two others but it is still quite a rarity. So if you want to join us, you would be most welcome. The Church is open from 11pm, there are some carols before Mass, blessing of the crib and Mass at midnight.

We also have 9am and 10.30am masses sung in English with the tones given in the new (corrected) translation of the Missal. For New Year's Eve, we have adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 11pm, with the Te Deum and Benediction at midnight (accompanied by fireworks, set off by our neighbours.)

You can see the full list of our Christmas and New Year services at the parish website.

Congratulations to new Deacons for Southwark

2011-12-17T19:57:00.000Z

St John's Seminary at Wonersh was in festive mood today as Rev Oladele Craig and Rev Kurt Barragan were ordained as Deacons. God willing, they will be ordained to the sacred priesthood this coming summer.

The celebration of the Liturgy was dignified and reverent, co-ordinated with discreet expertise by the Seminary MC, Simon Dray. The music was unmistakeably sacred music: the Missa Orbis Factor was used for the ordinary, and the English chants for Mass drew on both Eastern and Western traditions. The Schola gave a fine rendition of Tallis's If ye love me. An impressive number of clergy from the diocese participated, so it was a good opportunity to catch up with friends afterwards over lunch.

The ordinati both went through my Sacramental Theology class last academic year. I am beginning to wonder whether it is a kind of hurdle before ordination (i.e. if you can survive that, you can survive anything!)

Here is a photo of myself with Rev Oladele Craig:

And here, from left to right, Fr Frank Calduch of Opus Dei, Fr Chris Basden, parish priest of Clapham Park, Rev Kurt Barragan and myself:

Please remember our new deacons in your prayers

Pray for Christopher Hitchens

2011-12-17T09:13:00.001Z

We learnt yesterday that Christopher Hitchens has died. Our Catholic response is in charity to pray for the repose of his soul. We believe that he has gone to meet his maker. He did not believe in Christianity or in religion in general. We are not to judge him; we may allow that he was not culpable for his lack of faith. Only God can judge him, and we believe that God is infinitely merciful. Therefore we pray that the Father will allow him to be purified and to enter the kingdom of heaven - perhaps after a few sessions with St Thomas Aquinas and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta who will show him the love that they had for the truth.

Requiescat in pace.

Archbishop Mennini not attacked

2011-12-16T19:43:00.004Z

Recently I wondered whether it was now open season on Bishop Davies since he had been publicly criticised by a fellow Bishop and by a Heythrop theologian because of his remarks in a pastoral sermon to young people. One of the objections pointed to the cultural obstacles in the way of young Catholics today. This was described as a persecution complex.

After reading the homily of Bishop Davies, I found a report of a homily from Archbishop Mennini, delivered at Stonyhurst a few days earlier, on the feast of St Edmund Campion. (See Professing the Faith in our Country is not likely to become easier – UK Papal Nuncio.) In the course of his excellent homily, which demonstrated a familiarity with, and admiration of, the life of St Edmund Campion, he said:

We do well to reflect on the call to fidelity and constancy exemplified by Saint Edmund Campion and the many martyrs of England and Wales, and as we give thanks, we cannot fail to realise too, that professing the Faith in our Country is not likely to become easier for us.

Yet no English bishop or professional theologian seems to have criticised him for having a "persecution complex." Funny that.

Thank you

2011-12-16T17:20:00.002Z

Many thanks to FM who kindly sent me the Politically Incorrect Guide to the British Empire from my Amazon Wishlist. I shall enjoy reading it.

Cat videos will rule the world

2011-12-16T13:13:00.002Z

Hilarious. Some quotes:

"Everything is moving towards cat videos; and the agencies that don't realise that - get left behind."

"Cat videos are an unbelievably effective new business tool."

"Our goal is to integrate cat videos into every stage of the customer experience."

H/T Orwell's Picnic

Recording of responses for Low Mass

2011-12-14T09:28:00.001Z

[Photo credit: Mulier Fortis]

I was intending to record the responses for Low Mass to help out altar boys who wish to learn them. Thankfully, this has already been done (thanks to Fr Zuhlsdorf for the link.) This recording was made in the 1950s by the Catholic University in Washington D.C. It was originally made for an LP record.

The introduction in the sound file is good and boys would do well to listen to it. They may then wish simply to go back to the prayers at the foot of the altar to learn them thoroughly. The prayers of the Mass begin at about three minutes in. The other more difficult response which boys may need to listen to several times is the Suscipiat. This can be found at 09.22.

To download a copy of the file for your mp3 player, iPod, smartphone or other device, go to the Internet Archive page or simply right-click on this link and choose "save link as" or "save target as", depending on your browser. (You will need to unzip the file once you have saved it.) Then you can put it on your mobile device and listen to it from time to time on a journey.

A courtesy towards those who want to pray

2011-12-13T23:30:00.001Z

Bishop Gilbert of Aberdeen recently devoted a Pastoral Letter to the theme of silence. Quoting Kierkegaard, he began by explaining why silence is important, and then moved on to offer some practical advice:

A wise elderly priest of the diocese said recently, ‘Two people talking stop forty people praying.’

‘Create silence!’ I don’t want to be misunderstood. We all understand about babies. Nor are we meant to come and go from church as cold isolated individuals, uninterested in one another. We want our parishes to be warm and welcoming places. We want to meet and greet and speak with one another. There are arrangements to be made, items of news to be shared, messages to be passed. A good word is above the best gift, says the Bible. But it is a question of where and when. Better in the porch than at the back of the church. Better after the Mass in a hall or a room. There is a time and place for speaking and a time and place for silence. In the church itself, so far as possible, silence should prevail. It should be the norm before and after Mass, and at other times as well. When there is a real need to say something, let it be done as quietly as can be. At the very least, such silence is a courtesy towards those who want to pray. It signals our reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. It respects the longing of the Holy Spirit to prepare us to celebrate the sacred mysteries. And then the Mass, with its words and music and movement and its own moments of silence, will become more real. It will unite us at a deeper level, and those who visit our churches will sense the Holy One amongst us.

I was heartened to read the good Bishop's letter because it says something that I have tried to convey in my own parish. If people talk loudly in conversation after Mass, they prevent other people from praying. There are plenty of places to talk - in England you don't even have to be quiet in the public library nowadays - but there are few places where people can bring their joys and sorrows in silence before the Lord.

Poll on assisted suicide

2011-12-13T19:03:00.002Z

Sky news has a story about a lady going to the Dignitas "clinic" (for the reason for the inverted commas, see here.) She complains that politicians denied her the dignity of ending her life in her own home. There is a token balancing element in the story with CNK saying rightly that vulnerable people could feel obliged to die if they feel that they are a burden on others.

There is a poll on the page which is currently strongly in favour of assisted suicide. I encourage you to go and cast your vote:

Is it open season on Bishop Davies?

2011-12-12T23:49:00.008Z

A couple of weeks ago, Bishop Mark Davies preached at a Diocesan Day of Recollection for young people in his diocese of Shrewsbury. He spoke about being distracted and not finding our way, about being diverted from the Lord because we are looking in the wrong direction. He said that

... a generation before you so often failed to pass on those directions, the fullness of our Catholic faith which in Isaiah’s words at every crucial turn of our lives tells us, “this is the way, follow it!”

Bishop Davies went on to meditate on the meaning of Sunday and the real presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist, and offered encouragement to Youth 2000. He quoted the words of Pope Benedict at Marienfeld in for the 2005 World Youth Day:

...do not be deterred from taking part in Sunday Mass, and help others to discover it too … Let us pledge ourselves to do this – it is worth the effort!”

Then Bishop Davies continued:

For never since the days of persecution have so many obstacles been put in front of a generation to prevent you finding your way to Him. And it isn’t so much Sunday working, Sunday shopping, social lives which block out Saturday nights and Sunday mornings but losing sight of Jesus Himself which eclipses Sunday, not knowing where He is found which leaves it empty. It isn’t the incidentals of music or style which draws or deters you from finding your way to Him. Those things may help or hinder us but they’re not why we’re ever here. We are here because we know in the words of St. John Vianney that “He is here, the One who loves us so much He is here.” May we find our way to Him where we know He will always be found.

A jolly good sermon for young people, you might think. Not as far as the Tablet is concerned, it seems. In the print edition, the report of his sermon. Bishop Davies is criticised (by a fellow Bishop) for saying that we are “privileged” to have the biggest challenge ever. I don’t think that is quite what he said – he pointed to great obstacles, especially losing sight of Jesus himself. As though it were a contradiction of Bishop Davies, we are told that our society is indifferent rather than hostile. In fact, the good Bishop was contrasting persecution with “losing sight of Jesus.”Apparently previous generations

“learned their ‘faith’ in terms of catechism content, but can we say that they ever really understood and therefore were in a position to pass on their ‘faith’?”

Actually, I remember being taught the formulae of the penny catechism and what they meant. The process managed to pass on quite a bit more of the faith than the RE approach which is widely sanctioned today (though not in Shrewsbury) with its meandering stroll from the experience of birthdays and special places in the pious hope that sooner or later something transcendent will emerge.

But the present generation is more critical and independent apparently. Given the promotion of right-on mantras about climate change and pollution, and the restriction of history to a looped recording of the rise and fall of the Third Reich without any mention of Stalin, Mao or Pol Pot, I suppose young people might learn to be critical of the foundation of Western civilisation and independent of any classical influence that might promote original thought. Unless they are fortunate enough to come into contact with someone like Bishop Davies who could broaden their horizons beyond the OFSTED-enforced mental straightjacket.

The Tablet blog follows up the attack on Bishop Davies with a post (the Tablet calls it a “a blog” – one day they will catch up) with the heading A persecution complex certainly won't help. Bishop Davies has a persecution complex, apparently. Reading his homily with a critical and independent approach, it does rather seem to me that he is simply giving encouragement to young people who, I am sure, found much to inspire them in his words.

Bishop Davies said to the young people that a previous generation failed to pass on the fullness of the faith. So we are treated to the observation that "No generation ever alive has passed on the fullness of faith to the next. The fullness of faith is beyond us all." So let us distinguish. The kindly Bishop was not criticising a previous generation for failing to provide an immediate experience of the beatific vision. He was pointing out what is obvious to anyone willing to be honest about the life of the Church in the past few decades. Children, parents and young grandparents have grown up without clear teaching on the divinity of Christ, the infallibility of the Church, the real presence, the Sunday Mass obligation, the wrongfulness of artificial contraception, the existence of purgatory... to list but a few of the doctrines that have been considered too hard. That is what he means by the failure to pass on the fullness of the faith. He is unquestionably right and it is a grave injustice to the People of God if we pretend that it has not happened; and more so if we fail to rectify the situation with urgency.

If just one young Bishop can provoke this kind of opposition with a homily to young people, I wonder how things will be when there are one or two other like-minded Bishops appointed in due course to fill a couple of the many sees that are vacant or becoming so.

Ceterum autem censeo tabulam esse delendam

Jetpack news

2011-12-11T22:35:00.001Z

A couple of weeks back, I posted the important news of Jet Pack Man flying alongside two jets and suggested that street-friendly jet packs could not be far off. A kindly commenter pointed me to the The Martin Jetpack ("Fly the Dream") from New Zealand which is near to commercial production.

I have added this to my new (mainly fanciful) Amazon Wishlist.

Fine CTS books for children

2011-12-11T22:17:00.001Z

The Beautiful Story of Mary is the latest in a lovely collection of books for children from the Catholic Truth Society. As with several others, it is written and illustrated by Maïte Roche. They are suitable for a mother or father to read to a young child, with lively pictures that would, I think, be attractive to the little ones.

Also by Maïte Roche are My Little Christmas Prayer Book and The Beautiful Story of the Bible. A really good book for children who are preparing for their first Holy Communion is Friendship with Jesus, which gives the English translation of the question and answer session which Pope Benedict held with children in 2005 (edited by Amy Welborn and illustrated by Ann Kissane Engelhart.)

If you have young nephews or nieces and want to get them a little present for Christmas, the CTS has some good things for your shopping list.

A dog post

2011-12-09T09:13:00.000Z

I'm not particularly a dog lover. In fact, I don't like dogs very much; I prefer cats but don't go in for cat posts. Nevertheless, this is too bizarre not to post. In the words of Jennifer (of the "favourite links"):

"In case you were looking for a video of a dog in a tutu dancing the merengue... Here you go."

Easy version for Scottish same sex marriage consultation. Today.

2011-12-09T09:02:00.001Z

Laodicea has the quick and easy instructions for responding to the Scottish same-sex marriage consultation. If you haven't time to follow the link, just go to the Christian Institute and fill in the blanks. Five minutes - but must be done by midnight tonight.

The real problem with Archbishop Nichols...

2011-12-08T19:32:00.001Z

... is that he is too closely aligned with Rome on the question of same-sex unions, according to an Italian newspaper.

Two articles concerning this theme were posted yesterday on the website of La Stampa. The first, entitled Storm on the Thames: No same-sex unions in churches, says that Archbishop Nichols has been attacked for his excessive alignment with Rome on the question of same sex unions. It describes Archbishop Nichols as a “bona fide Ratzingerian.”

The second article (for which there is not yet an English translation – but you can use google translate) is headed L'arcivescovo di Westminster su unioni gay accusato di non rispettare la posizione vaticana (i.e. "The Archbishop of Westminster on gay unions accused of not respecting the Vatican position.")

This article links to David Kerr’s piece on CNA giving Archbishop Nichols’ response to his critics and refers to William Oddie’s article in the Catholic Herald (here) and to the follow-up article (here.)

In fact, the Tablet also thought that the Archbishop praised civil partnerships (cf. the 26 November headline “Archbishop praises civil partnerships”) Their journalist, Chris Lamb commented that

His comments mark the clearest support that a Catholic bishop has given in favour of civil unions.

This was presumably because the Archbishop said at the press conference (official audio file at 9'36")

We would want to emphasise that civil partnerships actually provide a structure in which people of the same sex who want a lifelong relationship, a lifelong partnership, can find their place and protection and legal provision.

Some support for the Tablet's view could be taken from the response of Archbishop Nichols as reported by CNA:

When Archbishop Nichols was asked by CNA if the bishops of England were contradicting the Vatican's guidelines, he said that the bishops have tried "to recognize the reality of the legal provision in our country of an agreement, a partnership, with many of the same legal safeguards as in marriage." He further explained that while the bishops recognize the existence of civil partnerships, they also "believe that that is sufficient," and that they should not be placed on par with marriage.

The extent to which La Stampa understands the issues at stake can be gleaned from the following paragraph (with my comments in red):

On the other hand, if same-sex civil unions were to be made legal, [Err. They have been made legal in the UK] this would mean the approval of a deviant form of behaviour, turning it into a model for society, blurring basic values such as marriage and the family. [What about the "finding their place, protection and legal provision?"] The concept of marriage would undergo radical change, seriously damaging the common good: it would lose its essential characteristics, tied to heterosexuality as a procreative and educational duty. [i.e. legalising civil partnerships would do this.] In as far as gay relationships are concerned, the Catholic Church – in Great Britain as in the rest of the world – is simply asking the state not to proceed with the legalisation on same-sex unions [Again - they have been legalised in the UK. The Bishops are saying that they recognise and respect this.] and to avoid making their legal status equal to that of marriage, with access to those rights that belong to marriage. Thus Mgr. Nichols has only repeated what is a common approach of the universal Church, with the full consent of his colleagues, the bishops of the United Kingdom and Rome.

With this paragraph exhibiting a spectacular ability to miss the point, La Stampa concludes an article denying the obvious - something agreed on by both the Catholic Herald and the Tablet - that the Bishops have supported same sex civil unions.

Former ACCC Chairman appointed Bishop

2011-12-07T22:22:00.000Z

Photo credit: Amos T Fairchild

Father Michael Kennedy of the Diocese of Wagga Wagga in Australia, has been appointed as Bishop of the Diocese of Armidale. For some years, Fr Kennedy was the Chairman of the Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy. He succeeds Bishop Luc Matthys whom I met at the Confraternity meeting in Rome in January 2010 which he attended.

I expect that there will be some very happy priests and people in the Diocese of Armidale.

A model response to a parent's justified complaint

2011-12-07T22:00:00.000Z

Recently, Ben Trovato, the (Countercultural Father) wrote to the Head of RE at the non-Catholic secondary school which his children attend. He had followed the case of Bonus Pastor School with interest only to find out one day that his own son had been watching Keeping Mum in RE.

The Head of RE phoned up promptly after receiving the letter, to say that he would look into the matter. A few weeks later, Ben received a letter from the teacher to say that he had reviewed the film, agreed it was inappropriate and withdrawn it from the syllabus.

It would be unjust to avoid making the observation that Ben's treatment by the non-Catholic school is markedly different from the response that the Clovis family received from a Catholic School.

Pyjamahadeen

2011-12-06T22:52:00.000Z

The latest sensation on the Catholic blogosphere is the rapidly expanding collection of trad Catholic protest songs by Laurence England (That the Bones You Have Crushed May Thrill.) At Blackfen we were delighted to welcome Laurence last Saturday for a gig (see his report) in between the Missa Cantata and solemn Vespers. After a late breakfast of sausages, eggs, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans and fried bread, accompanied by a pint or twain of Late Red, the company were treated to various compositions, including a premiere of Pyjamahadeen, a derogatory term, recently applied to traddy Catholic bloggers, which Laurence had fun with.

Editing the video, I added effects to give a retro look with scratches. Lyrics for the song are supplied in the info box at the YouTube page for the video. Mulier Fortis has Ecclesia Dei and I referred before to Summorum Pontificum which was the finale song on Saturday.

Derogatory expressions can be fun if you take them in the right spirit. Huffpost recently referred to those who support the new corrected translation of the Mass as "lockstep sheep and papist throwbacks." Fr Z has now produced a mug with this slogan. Proudly accepting Fr Z's description of us as "mind-numbed robots, incapable of thinking for yourselves and merely longing for the past out of irrational nostalgia" I have bought one as a Christmas present.

(This being the internet, I must give an irony alert here: Fr Z didn't really mean it. He was joking. Please don't get angry and send in comments attacking him.)

This also reminds me that I must get into the business of producing coffee mugs. Is the CafePress UK site working properly yet? Is Zazzle better? Is there another site that would be better than those? And can you still get mug trees of the sort that were in fashion when I was a student many years ago?

Where to buy "It is the Lord"

2011-12-06T20:53:00.001Z

The other day, my students asked where they could obtain the book by Bishop Athanasius Schneider "It is the Lord." Mistakenly I said that it was available from the Libreria Editrice Vaticana via PaxBooks (that's the version in Italian which I bought first of all.) In fact the English translation is sold in England by Gracewing for £5.99.

Since I won't be lecturing again until after Christmas, I thought that I would put the information here. If you have not read this book, I do heartily recommend it.

I mentioned the It is the Lord after referring to Origen, St Ephraem and St Cyril of Jerusalem who all emphasised strongly the reverence that is due to the holy Eucharist, and particularly the presence of Christ in each fragment. Here, for example, is a passage from St Ephraem, a fourth century Syriac Father:

I have given this to you now lest you should think it to be bread, take, eat this bread and do not crumble the particles of it; what I have called my body, this it truly is. One particle from its crumbs has power to sanctify a thousand thousands and is enough to give life to all who eat it. (Sermones in hebdomadam sanctam 4.4)

Catholicism series being offered in Southwark Archdiocese

2011-12-06T09:29:00.000Z

Fr Robert Barron has developed a highly successful internet apostolate with his talks available on YouTube. Catholicism is a professionally produced DVD series exploring the Catholic faith. The Centre for Catholic Formation in the Archdiocese of Southwark is putting on this programme, starting in January. This programme would be especially suited to catechists (or those who want to become catechists) and teachers who would like the opportunity to deepen their faith.

Here are the details from the CCF:

New Adult Formation Programme: Catholicism
You are warmly invited to a new adult study programme based on the highly-acclaimed DVD series by Fr Robert Barron, Catholicism, at the Centre for Catholic Formation in Tooting on Thursday evenings, beginning 12th January (Northern Line - Tooting Bec).

A trailer for the series is shown above. It is a beautifully produced series and has been called "the most vivid catechism ever created" (Brad Milner, The Catholic Thing blog).

Catholicism is intended to be a celebration of our Catholic Faith, immersing viewers in the art, architecture, literature, beliefs and practices of our Catholic tradition.

Who is it for?
All adult Catholics who would like a deeper understanding of their Faith. Especially recommended to catechists, parents, teachers, and those who would like to become catechists in the parish. Non-Catholic adult enquirers also welcome.

When does it start?
The programme runs for 11 sessions on Thursday evenings from 12 January 2012, 7.30-9.00pm.

How much does it cost?
The registration fee is £30. This covers the study binder that each participant will receive.

How do I book?
Email Julia Olesiuk at jolesiuk@gmail.com

Abortion? There's an app for that...

2011-12-02T11:58:00.001Z

... but the agents of the culture of death are cross that it doesn't work properly for finding abortion mills. Siri - a popular feature of the new iPhone 4S is a voice-activated, electronic personal assistant designed to 'help you do the things you do every day.' Things people do every day: have a chinese meal, go to the library, get an abortion, you know the sort of thing.

Siri has annoyed the pro-aborts by not instantly serving up information about where to get your baby done away with. One feminist was particularly annoyed that she got directed to a pro-life crisis centre in Washington.

I wonder whether the spirit of the late, great Cardinal of Genoa is having an influence on the app. Has anyone tried to use it to search for a place to buy trousers for women? (Cf. his 1960 Notification Concerning Men's Dress Worn By Women.)

Bishop saves his people from having to hold hands at Mass

2011-11-30T22:43:00.001Z

A Bishop issuing a Decree! Whatever next? From Pray Tell via Diane of Te Deum Laudamus, comes this Pastoral Letter and Decree from Bishop Foys of Covington, Kentucky. The Decree concerns the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy and primarily the importance of obedience to the principle:

Therefore no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority. (Sacrosanctum Concilium n.22)

Bishop Foys talks about the text, the music and the gestures used in the Liturgy, particularly the people kneeling during the Eucharistic Prayer and after the Agnus Dei. He also points out that people should not extend or join their hands during the Our Father. Referring to the General Instruction, he points out that silence should be observed in the Church before mass, and encourages silence after Mass.

Predictably there is a degree if indignation in the comments box at Pray Tell (misanthrope... legalism... rubricism... dreck... fascistic... etc.) and, as usual in these debates, the prediction or hope that priests and people will disobey, not put money in the collection, be liberated, and hold hands proudly at the Our Father.

I suspect that many priests and people will be relieved that whether or not the Decree is obeyed throughout the Diocese of Covington, they at least cannot now be criticised for keeping to the rubrics. Priests who do not make conversational improvisations to jolly the Mass along, are often criticised for being distant or formal, when in fact they are trying to allow the people to participate at Mass as the Church teaches us, with Christ at the centre of the action, not the personality of Fr Showman.

And I expect many ordinary Mass-goers will be relieved that they do not now need to feel stand-offish if they refuse to hold hands during the Our Father. Those outside of the Diocese of Covington and unlucky enough to be in a parish where hand-holding is compulsory might benefit from this idea of Jope:

The "Our Father Holding Hand" is a one-size fits all that you can easily slip on your real hand and then slip off discreetly so the progressive congregant to your left or right has a hand to hold. Meanwhile, your real hands are now reverently folded so that you can pray the Lord's Prayer without getting stuck in that giant 60's style peace chain.

Enjoying using the new books

2011-11-30T09:18:00.002Z

Unpacking my new Missals, I had the flippant thought that it was like Mummy Missal, Daddy Missal and baby Missal. As everyone has said, the CTS has done a fine job in producing books of excellent quality, worthy for use in the Sacred Liturgy. The Study Edition is particularly useful at the moment when we are finding our way around the ordinary, the propers and the commons.

Having used the Missals for a few days now, I am getting used to the page turns. For the moment, I still need to have the text for the "I confess" and the "Gloria": although in England we have been using the texts since September, it will be a few more weeks before I can confidently say them by heart.

What I should do (and writing this reminds me) is to sit down and learn them off by heart. This exercise has almost vanished from modern education but is worthwhile. Fr Reggie Foster often used to quote Cicero's warning: memoria minuitur nisi eam exerceas (the memory diminishes - unless you exercise it.)

As with many popular quotations, this is actually truncated. The text from Cicero's Cato Maior de Senectute 7.21 reads: At memoria minuitur. Credo, nisi eam exerceas, aut etiam si sis natura tardior. (But [it is alleged] the memory diminishes. I agree: if you do not exercise it, or also if you are by nature somewhat dull.)

The new Missals came last week. The courier firm tried to deliver them several weeks ago when I was away and I didn't get round to rearranging the delivery - I had them dropped to the school and picked them up from there. I find that for a priest living alone, the delivery of parcels is one of the more annoying day-to-day administrative problems. If I were to order £40 worth of groceries online, I could specify a one hour delivery slot and have them delivered free. If I'm ordering several hundred pounds worth of other goods, it's "between 8.30am and 6.30pm" or similar. Anyway it is great to have them at last.

London metropolitan elite now invited to consultation for Scotland on gay marriage

2011-11-29T23:06:00.002Z

You might have thought that the Scottish Government's Consultation on same sex marriage was for people in Scotland. It was. But not any more. The views of the metropolitan elite will now be taken into account, probably because they will boost support for same sex marriage.

Of course you can respond too. You can use the Government's online consultation form. Alternatively the Christian Institute has a more concise response form.

For further comment, see the post at Defend Marriage in Scotland: Dirty Tricks from the Scottish Government?

UPDATE: Thomas writes in the combox:

Actually, it appears that submissions from outside of Scotland have been accepted from the beginning of the 14-week consultation. It's just that the Scottish Government managed to assure the Scottish Catholic Parliamentary Office that only submissions from Scotland would count. At the same time, they also managed to let those campaigning for the redefinition of marriage know that external submissions would actually be accepted. It's all about creating the illusion of a groundswell of support.

The adage about an 'unlevel playing field' comes to mind...

Jet pack man

2011-11-29T18:49:00.002Z

The most important news of the day for boys of all ages: man with real, working jet pack flying alongside two jets. It doesn't start off from the ground (he had to jump out of a helicopter) and landing was by parachute: remaining on his feet when landing, with the jet pack still strapped to his back deserves considerable respect. Give it up for Yves Rossy! Street-friendly jet packs cannot be far off now.

This is surely the definitive alternative to cat posts.

H/T New Advent

Film on the Vendée

2011-11-29T09:13:00.000Z

Navis Pictures are producing a film about the War of the Vendée which is not included in the politically correct list of massacres and atrocities since it involved Catholics defending themselves against the most brutal and horrific torture and massacre during the French Revolution.

The film uses many young actors, and the story, though brutal, is told with reserve and the makers assure us that movie is suitable for children. It is due for release in January.

H/T A Chaplain Abroad via Linen on the Hedgerow

When legal positivism meets anti-clericalism

2011-11-28T12:19:00.028Z

How's this for stupid lawsuit of the year? Johannes Christian Sundermann, a lawyer from Unna in North Rhine Westphalia, representing a man from Dortmund, has filed a legal complaint against the pope for not wearing a seat belt on several occasions “for more than one hour at a time” during his visit to Freiburg at the end of September.

Apparently the lawyer (a member of the socialist Left party) took the case on after several other lawyers refused to do so. If he is doing the case pro bono, I hope it takes up a lot of his time. If he is not, then "man from Dortmund" may learn a salutary lesson.

The report in The Local (Germany's News in English) tells us that "both Sundermann and his client are no longer members of the Catholic Church." No surprise there, then. (Though of course they are still members of the Catholic Church whether they like it or not.)

New Stations at Stronsay

2011-11-28T12:10:00.001Z

The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer at Papa Stronsay have just made an important addition to Our Lady's Chapel at Stronsay by putting up Stations of the Cross. It is great to see the chapel being improved bit by bit as resources allow. More pictures at Transalpine Redemptorists at Home.

Huffpost poll on new translation

2011-11-28T12:03:00.001Z

The internet newspaper, Huffington Post has an article as the New Mass Translation Launches In American Parishes. We've been using at least the Ordinary of the Mass in England since September so the fuss has died down. In the US, there are only a few weeks left to stir things up until the time when most ordinary people are used to the new translation and will see that there is nothing really to make a fuss about.

There is a poll at the foot of the article. Rather confusingly, it asks

Which Catholic Mass (Roman Missal) language do you prefer?
The new Mass
The former Mass
Both are equally meaningful to me

Be aware that it in referring to "The new Mass" and the "The former Mass", it is not asking whether you like the ordinary or extraordinary form. If you think that the new (corrected) translation is preferable to the old (lame duck) translation, you need to click on "The new Mass."

H/T Fr Z

EnCourage - call for chaplains

2011-11-27T19:54:00.001Z

Encourage is a group for people struggling with same sex attraction who are sincerely trying to live according to the teaching of the Church. (Similar to Courage in the US.) There has been a revival of interest recently and I have been in touch with one or two people who would like to arrange for regular meetings and occasional Days of Recollection.

They would appreciate hearing from priests who would be willing to help, particularly with hearing confessions. Suitable priests would be orthodox, in complete accord with the teaching of the magisterium on sexual ethics, and capable of showing that compassion and sensitivity which is called for by the Catechism (2358.) If any priest is interested in being on the list of chaplains to EnCourage, please send your details to encouragelondon@yahoo.co.uk.

The Goals of EnCourage are:

To live chaste lives in accordance with the Roman Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality.
To dedicate our entire lives to Christ through service to others, spiritual reading, prayer, meditation, individual spiritual direction, frequent attendance at Mass, and the frequent reception of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist.
To foster a spirit of fellowship in which we may share with one another our thoughts and experiences and so ensure that none of us have to face the problems of homosexuality alone.
To be mindful of the truth that chaste friendships are not only possible but necessary in chaste Christian life - to encourage one another in forming and sustaining them.
To live lives that may serve as good examples to others.

Mgr Charlie Brown new Papal Nuncio for Ireland

2011-11-26T23:59:00.002Z

This really is a bombshell - and a sign that Pope Benedict is determined to do whatever it takes to reform the Church. With the catastrophe that is Ireland at the moment, especially in matters concerning the Church, we might have expected a seasoned diplomat from Italy - though in fact that has already been tried.

Mgr Charlie Brown (of the Archdiocese of New York) is 52, has several degrees under his belt, has worked in a parish in the Bronx, and has spent many years in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He actually has not worked in any official diplomatic capacity. Mgr Brown has immediately been appointed as a titular Archbishop - this is considered fitting for the post to which he has been assigned.

He will need all our prayers in the appointment, but God bless Pope Benedict for stepping outside the normal cursus honorum in this imaginative and daring appointment.

Sex-ed: getting the information out there

2011-11-26T23:34:00.001Z

In the Daily Mail, Paul Bracchi has a sensible and informative piece about the Channel 4 programme "Living and Growing." See: Casual sex and 'bad touching': Guess what your eight-year-old is learning at school these days.

One detail that Paul Bracchi picks up is from the introduction to another similarly bad programme:

The introduction states: ‘In the past some people have set aims in SRE such as “promoting marriage”, “dissuading children from having sex before marriage”, “stopping young people from having sex”, “telling children what is right or wrong” etc.

‘Such aims are not achievable, inappropriate for schools and are often more to do with propaganda than education.’

How extraordinary! Showing junior school children graphic animations of sexual intercourse, and teaching them how to masturbate, is appropriate, while telling them what is right or wrong is inappropriate. These people live in a very disturbed inner world.

I hope that with publicity such as this, more adults will actually look at parts of "Living and Growing." These programmes get under the radar because everyone assumes that they are "educational" and must be OK. Once they see what is being shown to little children, most decent adults will be appalled, and quite a few parents will be absolutely livid. We need to get the information out to people and I am grateful to the Daily Mail for helping with this.

Pushkin's memoirs

2011-11-26T23:11:00.000Z

I'm not really one for cat posts but Pushkin from the Birmingham Oratory seems to be able to insist as cats do, that he be obeyed. Princess Michael of Kent was at his book launch and entertainment was provided by children from the Oratory School as they sang, 'Oh, I want to sing about Pushkin' and 'Pontifical Puss' - two songs composed for the evening. Members of St Paul’s Girls’ School performed Duet for Two Cats by Rossini.

You can see a report of the encounter with the Princess and Pushkin at the St Paul's blog: A purr-fect evening in honour of Pushkin and a follow-up Pushkin and Her Royal Highness which is a chapter from the memoirs.

You can order the book from St Pauls at their website. Royalties from the book will go towards the Birmingham Oratory Church Maintenance Fund.

Abortion figures fiddled - and the RCOG explains how to commit feticide

2011-11-23T21:37:00.003Z

Yesterday, the Telegraph reported that there was a bit of fiddling with the figures on the cost of abortion to the taxpayer. As Lord Alton has rightly complained, Parliament was badly misled. Originally, the Department of Health said that £90m was spent on abortions in 2009-10, with only £8m going to independent providers (notably Marie Stopes and the BPAS) with the rest being paid to NHS organisations.

Now it turns out that the Department of Health is admitting that "organisations have interpreted guidance on collecting costs in different ways" and that there is a more reliable figure to be had on the basis of returns that must be made by law to the Chief Medical Officer by law.

So actually it turns out that £118m was spent on abortions in 2010, with £75m going to independent providers and the rest (£44m) to the NHS.

Not £8m for private clinics but £75m. Yes, Minister. Concerns have been raised about the calculations.

Today's news is even less cheery: the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have published their new Guideline on The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion. Rorate Caeli posts a horrific section dealing with late abortions. As he says: Clear and to the point, quoting Recommendation 6.21:

Feticide should be performed before medical abortion after 21 weeks and 6 days of gestation to ensure that there is no risk of a live birth.

the reason for this is given frankly:

failure to perform feticide could result in a live birth and survival, which contradicts the intention of the abortion.

Well I suppose it does, really.

In the section quoted by Rorate Caeli, advice is given on exactly how to commit the feticide. Apparently Dilatation and Evacuation is abhorrent to most women who would rather that the baby was killed first. So the recommendation is to inject potassium chloride into the heart. There are other ways for staff not so good at giving intracardiac injections, but they are not quite so certain to kill.

These late abortions are usually carried out for fetal abnormality. (Abortion is allowed in Britain up to birth if the baby has a "fetal abnormality.") This very often means that the baby has Downs Syndrome. You don't see many people with Downs Syndrome on the streets nowadays. Now you know what is happening to them.

Takapuna ablaze, to be demolished tomorrow

2011-11-23T19:03:00.001Z

For many years the house on Peaks Hill in Purley, known as Takapuna, was home to the John Fisher School Faith Society from its foundation in 1972 until just a few years ago. The Faith Society at the John Fisher School was the beginning of the Faith Movement. To begin with, the room at Takapuna where the Faith group met, was the Study of Fr Roger Nesbitt; after he left, it became a spare classroom, always left available on Friday evenings for the Faith Society.

The house itself was a residence for some of the many priests who taught in the school at one time. The last resident was Fr Richard Fawssett who lived there until he died on 2 June 2009.

Last night, Sir Dan of the blogosphere phoned me with the sad news that Takapuna was on fire. Today, the Headmaster, Mr Mark Scully told me that the building, which was already in a poor state of repair, is now in a dangerous condition and will be demolished tomorrow.

The many priests and laymen (and indeed some old girls of St Anne's and Coloma) who remember the Friday evening meetings of Faith will be sad to hear of the downfall of Takapuna, but perhaps a quick demolition is in some ways preferable to slow decay: the Sutton Guardian referred to it as a "derelict building." The Faith group at the school continues under the watchful eye of Sir Dan. I will be visiting to give a talk in a few weeks' time. Those who know Sir Dan will not be surprised to hear that he considered the fate of Takapuna to be "symbolic of the state of the Church today."

The Headmaster told me of one poignant detail in the story: while Takapuna was burning and being attended by several fire engines, the Chapel Choir was giving a performance of Faure's Requiem.

CCC northern and southern chapter meetings

2011-11-22T20:32:00.000Z

A reminder for priests of two forthcoming meetings of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy. Here are the details:

Southern Chapter Meeting
Monday 28th November, 2011
at St Mary of the Angels, Moorhouse Road, Bayswater

PROGRAMME
Coffee from 11am
11.30am Conference on: The revival of Catholic Scripture scholarship under Benedict XVI given by Fr John Hemer
12.30pm Adoration
1pm Lunch

Please contact Fr Richard Whinder to book a place at lunch 02088761326 or revdwhinder@hotmail.com

Northern Chapter Meeting
Friday 9th December, 2011
at St Austin’s Church, Wakefield WF1 3QN

PROGRAMME
11.30am Talk, followed by lunch & social
Holy Hour & Benediction at 3.00pm
end at 4.00pm.

Clergy wishing to attend should e-mail
Fr. Stephen Brown on idlecleric@yahoo.co.uk or ‘phone 01274 721636.

Conman posing as Bishop in telephone scam

2011-11-22T16:09:00.002Z

This today from the offices of the Archdiocese of Southwark:

A man purporting to be a Bishop from the Philippines has rung a number of priests in the Diocese of Southwark asking for money to enable him to attend Bishop John Jukes’ funeral.

He has already been reported in the press but to date he is still ringing priests

Do not ring the number he gives – it might be that is the way he is gaining the money he is requesting.

Please report any contact to your local police station.

There is a press report at Total Catholic concerning this conman. He has been purporting to be Bishop Joseph Surasarang, the retired bishop of Chiang Mai diocese in Thailand but marooned in the Philippines. (Of course the story could change.) He has been targeting Priests, Deacons, Schools and the bereaved. It would be good if we could shut this guy down.

UPDATE: I just had a call from him! (The number he rang from was 639061846758.) After a polite greeting and introduction I started reading the text of the notice from the Archdiocese. For some reason he hung up :-) Details now being emailed to the Police.

UPDATE: He is now telling priests that Archbishop Peter Smith asked him to ring them!

Mass on board ship off coast of Iwo Jima 1945

2011-11-22T09:40:00.002Z

The priest and the congregation sway back and forth with the motion of the ship as Mass is celebrated just off the coast of Iwo Jima in 1945. Thanks be to God that these men were so well prepared for what was a fiercely fought battle with 28,000 US casualties and 6,800 dead. There were 22,060 Japanese soldiers in heavily fortified positions; 21,844 died either from fighting or by committing suicide in order not to be taken prisoner. This is a reminder to us that codes of honour, customs, and personal conscience can be gravely erroneous. Their suicide may well not be imputed to them by Almighty God and therefore we should pray for the repose of their souls as well as those of the Americans who died.

As well as the crucial spiritual benefit of this Mass for the troops, watching vintage footage of the celebration of Mass is always of interest. Those of us who were children when the Mass was substantially changed from about 1964 onwards have tried assiduously to be faithful to the rubrics and customs of celebrating the old Mass. It is consoling for me to see that the gestures and movements are basically the same, but there are always little differences that are noticeable.

In this video, the priest gives Holy Communion from a large pyx. He does not make the sign of the cross with the sacred host before each communicant. I wonder whether this was simply a precaution because of the effects of the swell or whether the custom was simply not universal.

Here is a link to another clip (commercial so I can't embed it) of a US Military Chaplain celebrating Mass on the pier at Weymouth harbour three days before D-Day. Interesting to think that my dad was probably not too far away somewhere on the South coast with others preparing tanks. He went across on 8 June.

Bishop John Jukes RIP

2011-11-21T18:53:00.001Z

Today the Archdiocese sent the sad news of the death of Bishop John Jukes OFM Conv who died this morning. Bishop Jukes ordained me to the priesthood in 1984. He kept in touch from time to time during his retirement with his robust and blunt approach to ecclesiastical matters. He was a man you could talk to straight from the shoulder. May God reward his many years of labour in the vineyard.Requiescat in pace.

"Some more, some more, Summorum Pontificum!"

2011-11-19T23:32:00.001Z

Online busking trad blogger and friend of the homeless in Brighton, Laurence England of That The Bones You Have Crushed May Thrill has just posted this Ballad of Summorum Pontificum. It has more than a whiff of John Hegley's style, and I'm sure that the refrain

Some more, some more
Summorum Pontificum!
Some more, some more, gimme some more.

will be sung in pubs and clubs up and down the land after traditional Masses and other traddie events.

Go over to Laurence's post for the lyrics.

The eternal truths and the threefold remorse of the damned

2011-11-17T17:37:00.001Z

CZAS UCIEKA WIECZNOŚĆ CZEKA (Time flies. Eternity waits.) Left footer reports on this text on a sign near the sanctuary where he attended Mass. (H/T Mundabor) The photo above is from the Cathedral at Trier - the inscription says "You do not know at what hour the Lord will come" and applies both to the second coming and to our own death. St Alphonsus Liguori used to quote St Augustine "God promises us His grace, He does not promise us tomorrow."

At this time of year I devote four Sunday sermons to the four last things. It is easy to gloss over the eternal truths even though they are an obviously major part of the teaching of Jesus Christ in the gospels. St Alphonsus, in his Sermons for every Sunday of the year focussed mainly on the four last things. His sermons were what we would today call "talks" or "conferences" - they were not given during Mass but at a separate devotional service. His aim was to bring people back to the practice of the faith by reminding them of the eternal truths and of the great mercy of God which allows us the opportunity for conversion in this life. He stressed the urgency and vital importance of such conversion.

Speaking about the last things has become unfashionable in recent decades. It is supposed to be psychologically unhealthy because so many clerics cling to the personalist "I'm OK, You're OK." psychology that was fashionable in the 70s and 80s. (For more information on this, see this Interview with a repentant psychologist. If anyone has more links to stuff by William Coulson, please drop links in the combox. I'd like to feature his work in another post.)

Surely the point is - are the eternal truths actually true? If they are, it is supremely important that people know about them, and negligent for a priest to ignore them in his preaching. Unless the Lord returns first, we are all going to die within a few decades - that we know. If we believe Our Lord's teaching in the Gospels, there is going to be a judgement and we are all going either to heaven or to hell. Most of us should hope that we will be given the merciful provision of purgatory to make us fit for heaven.

In fact meditating on the eternal truths, the four last things, is consoling, not a psychologically damaging threat. Take for example the sermon of St Alphonsus on the threefold remorse of the damned. In summary, the soul in hell is aware of

The little he required to save his soul
The trifles for which he lost his soul
The great good which he has lost through his own fault

This rather stark reminder of the anguish of the soul in hell teaches us that we should do that little that we require to save our souls - pray each day, keep the commandments, receive the sacraments, especially the sacrament of penance, and carry out works of charity. We are also drawn to see that the things which might cause the loss of our soul are trifles compared with the eternal bliss of heaven.

All of the things that we need to do to save our souls make us better people here on earth so this is not an attack on the priority of social justice: in the time of St Alphonsus and indeed until relatively recently, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy were seen as necessary, not occasions to pat ourselves on the back.

If you don't hear about the four last things at this time of year, you could make them a part of your own meditation. If you can get a copy of the sermons of St Alphonsus they are great - but the kindly and gentle St Francis of Sales also has meditations on them in his Introduction to the Devout Life.

New online journal "Humanum"

2011-11-17T15:35:00.001Z

Stratford Caldecott sends me news of a new online journal, called Humanum which is a quarterly review of the Centre for Cultural and Pastoral Research at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, DC. The journal is free and there is no registration. There is an About page which gives more information but here is a snippet:

As the name Humanum indicates, we are about “the human”: what makes us human, what keeps us human, and how to rescue our humanity when this is endangered. Our aim is to pick our way with discernment through the flood of publications (some good, some confused, some pernicious) that claim to tell us about ourselves, about family, marriage, love, children, health, and human life.

The emphasis on the family is particularly strong in the present issue which is devoted to "The Child." It is encouraging to hear of this new apostolate which will help to bring academic articles on such vital matters to a wide audience.

Birmingham Oratory to make sung Mass EF

2011-11-16T21:00:00.001Z

From the first Sunday of Advent, the Birmingham Oratory will celebrate its sung 10.30am Mass as a High Mass in the extraordinary form or, as we prefer to call it here, the usus antiquior (an expression also used by Pope Benedict.)I think that this is a sensible development.

People who want to go to a sung Latin Mass are better served by the old rite without the interactive "Fratres agnoscamus..." and having to wait until the Sanctus is finished before the priest begins the Canon. The singing of the Propers fits better in the usus antiquior and the possibility of a regular High Mass is only to be welcomed.

There are, of course, those who would prefer to promote the celebration of the Novus Ordo ad orientem and in Latin. I respect such an agenda as it is one that I used to adhere to myself. We can agree to differ respectfully on such a question. Perhaps one day I should write a pale imitation of Newmans's "History of my religious opinions."

Towards Advent Festival

2011-11-16T17:09:00.001Z

The Towards Advent Festival is happening this Saturday, 19 November at Westminster Cathedral Hall. The main speaker this year is Mgr Keith Newton of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. His talk will be at 1.30pm.

The Festival opens from 10am - there will be a formal opening 10.30am with the Gallery Choir of the Cathedral Choir School. The Hall is filled with stalls and displays from Catholic groups and organisations. Books, DVDs and various devotional items will be on sale - many of them suitable for Christmas.

Refreshments are provided by the Association of Catholic Women, and both the Knights of St Columba and the Catenians help with practical matters. The day will end with a celebration of Blessed John Paul and a film about his life.

Admission to the Festival is free but tickets for the talks are £2 each (pay at the door.)

Auntie Joanna has written an article about the festival for Adoremus.

CMA (Kent) hosting talk on Hippocratic Oath

2011-11-16T16:34:00.001Z

The Kent branch of the Catholic Medical Association are having their AGM and a talk in my parish on 29 November. I'll be going along myself to hear more about the Hippocratic Oath. Many years ago I visited Kos and brought back a T-shirt with the Hippocratic oath printed on it in Greek. My sister (a consultant geriatric psychiatrist used to wear it sometimes to medical conferences where her colleagues who did not know Greek twigged that there might be something suspicious about it. Here are the details of the conference:

Catholic Medical Association (Kent Branch)
www.catholicmedicalassociation.org.uk

AGM and Meeting (with some food!)
Tuesday 29th November 20117.30pm
Our Lady of the Rosary, 330a Burnt Oak Lane, Blackfen, Kent. DA15 8LW

The Hippocratic Oath
by Fr Bernard McNally

Dear Friends, It was wonderful to see so many of you at the conference we held at Our Lady of the Rosary, Blacken earlier this year. Feedback from the day was very positive and we were really grateful to you all for your contributions to the day as well as to all our speakers.

We are pleased to invite you to another meeting on the Second Saturday and Sunday of Lent (25th -26th February) next year. But for now, it is high time we had an AGM of the Kent Branch. Geraldine Mceever and Ian Jessiman have held the posts of Master and secretary for many years and have both asked to be “let off”.

So, we will be having an evening meeting in November at which we will elect new officers for the Kent branch of the CMA. Any member of the CMA can stand for offices and all nominations are very welcome. Having an AGM should not take too long and so we will also have the Rosary or Mass, some food and a talk on the Hippocratic Oath by Fr Bernard McNally, Guy’s Hospital Chaplain. We do hope that you can come.

Whether you can come or not, please do the followingPlease can you all let us have your email addresses. That way we can keep you up to date with the latest edition of the Catholic Medical Quarterly and other important occasional news.Please note that only Kent Branch members may vote at the AGM.

Finally, please note that the Catholic Medical Quarterly is now on line at www.cmq.org.uk and we think it looks rather splendid with some excellent articles. Members should have received their copies by post recently. If not please tell us as we will need to check the membership database. (Replies to wendykane@hotmail.co.uk)

Yours sincerely

Dr Adrian Treloar and Wendy Schiess

Usus antiquior in Poland: a local story

2011-11-15T20:49:00.001Z

Piotr Bednarski sent me this encouraging story from Poland, of the ordinary faithful trying to build "brick by brick" an awareness and appreciation of the usus antiquior. For those of us who have the blessing of the usus antiquior regularly for some time now, it is a reminder of the patient work needed to bring about the re-sacralisation of the Liturgy especially through the enrichment that the old Mass can bring.

Missa Cantata celebrated in the Extraordinary Form of Roman Rite (EF) with Master of Ceremonies, Incense, and blessing for a wedding anniversary: how to make parishioners familiar with the EF when the pastor does not envision the possibility of the EF, at least in the short term

Even in a parish where only the Novus Ordo (NO) is celebrated, and some churchgoers are vocal against Latin and the traditional Mass (perhaps due to lack of understanding the EF and church documents), still there is a window of opportunity to offer an experience of the “ancient Mass”.That was the case when a couple celebrating their 15th anniversary, in the spirit of patient dialogue with the pastor, succeeded in getting the green light to have the EF for the family and any parishioners willing to come.

Lay people took full responsibility for ”marketing the EF” by putting up posters, arranging a priest and altar servers properly trained in the EF, a chant singer to do the propers, and finally for getting all the necessary liturgical vestments and requisites, including even candlesticks. And it happened, for the first time in the history of this 30-year old parish, on October 15, 2011, on the feast of St. Teresa of Avilla (the great master of the spiritual life of XVI century and the doctor of the Church). The venue of the event was the parish of Mater Ecclesiae in Otrebusy near Warsaw, Poland where people were able to participate in a Missa Cantata celebrated by Fr. Zbigniew Chromy, a priest from the Diocese of Świdnica in south-west Poland.

Fr. Zbigniew is a doctor in theology, with professional interest in teaching of Joseph Ratzinger, and he is a faculty member at the Diocesan Seminary in Swidnica, affiliated at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wroclaw, Poland. He kindly agreed to make a quick 24-hour trip Swidnica to Otrebusy (200 miles) to say the Mass.

At the Mass, attended by the faithful of the parish and guests, together about 50 people, the atmosphere of prayer, participation, and dignity of liturgy was overwhelming. There were three priests invited for the anniversary, none of whom celebrate the EF, who sat in choir: Fr. Marcin Korzeniowski – a local assistant priest, Fr. Tadeusz Alexandrowicz a former pastor of the parish, now in charge of a large Warsaw parish, and Fr. Zbigniew Badowski, a canon lawyer from one of Warsaw's strongly NO parishes.

The proper chants of the Mass (in the original tones of Gregorian chant) were performed by Agnieszka Mycka, a musicologist and conductor of Gregorian schola (at the church of Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lublin, Poland). The propers for the feast of St. Theresa, especially the beautiful “Dilexisti iustitiam, et odisti iniquitatem”, filled the modern church, inspiring the faithful to prayerful meditation. The altar servers (master of ceremonies, acolytes, thurifer) harmonised well with the celebrating priest in a service marked by concentration and piety.

The Mass participants, even though most of them were new to the EF, followed the Mass, responded actively to the priest, and managed the Ordinary in Latin. This was facilitated by Missals provided specially for this occasion with texts in Polish and Latin. In a short introduction before the Mass, Fr. Zbigniew set the proper tone and lowered uncertainty about Latin and new elements not encountered in NO, such as the longer period of silence during Canon. Fr. Zbigniew also emphasized the opportunity of experiencing the richness of gestures, postures, and silence of the EF, and recalled the principle of receiving Holy Communion in a kneeling posture.

During his homily, referring to the feast of St. Theresa, Fr. Zbigniew pointed to two pillars of the spiritual life: Mass and prayer. He stressed that the free gift of the real presence of Christ during the sacrifice of the Mass is the infinite source of strengthening Christians in everyday life, in marriage, in the family. At the end of Mass, the antiphon sung in honour of Our Lady - Salve Regina - brought a joyful Marian accent to the Saturday, a day devoted to Our Lady.

Finally, after the Mass Fr. Zbigniew, in accordance with the ancient rite, offered an uplifting prayer and blessed the married couple celebrating their anniversary, followed by sprinkling with Holy Water. (right) The solemn retiring procession closed the ceremony.

The final photo at the entrance of the Church shows the participants at Mass - except for the altars serves who needed to prepare the church for the NO Mass.

Let us hope and pray that even if the Mass was a extraordinary event in the parish, sooner than later EF becomes also part of the Sunday schedule.

Decline and Fall for 72p

2011-11-14T21:33:00.001Z

I have been using a Kindle for a while now, mainly for reading documents and articles published on the internet that are too long to print off. Until the other day, I hadn't used it to buy books from Amazon. I was drawn to do so because I wanted to read the new edition of A Bitter Trial edited by Alcuin Reid which is not available on Amazon in the print version. That rather overcame my reluctance to read real books on the Kindle. I heartily recommend A Bitter Trial, by the way: it shows Evelyn Waugh as astonishingly prescient.

Whenever you speak of ebooks, people say that they prefer the feel of a real book and I have great sympathy with that view. I started seriously collecting books when I was 17 and have some wonderful volumes on my shelves that are increasing in value and interest over the decades.

In fact, I have too many books and need to do another purge of my shelves. For some time now, I have discarded any fictional books that I buy to read when on holiday or, like Fr Adrian Fortescue, to clear my mind towards the end of the day. (Much better than television.) I especially enjoy historical fiction but read quite quickly (though not as quickly as Fortescue) and get through quite a few of them. (I must remember to take a box of such books over to the school for their Christmas bazaar.) In the future, I shall simply stock up the Kindle with a few titles

For many years I have had the intention of reading Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and always ask for it in second-hand bookshops. On the rare occasions when a shop actually has a copy, it has been beyond my budget.

I just downloaded a copy of all six volumes for my Kindle for 72p.

Quite a good endorsement

2011-11-14T20:31:00.001Z

I suppose this must be one of the best pictures a composer might hope for. Richly deserved as well!

Faith Magazine latest issue online

2011-11-13T09:13:00.001Z

The November-December issue of Faith Magazine is online. The editorial examines the eclipse of authority with reference to the summer riots and the current ecclesial compromise.

Fr Hugh MacKenzie looks at some serious problems with the EdExcel GCSE religion course and its textbook Roman Catholic Christianity.

The Letters page has contributions on the article by Dylan James in the last issue, on contraception and natural family planning.

I have a book review of The Council in Question. A Dialogue with Catholic Traditionalism (Moyra Doorly and Fr Aidan Nichols) together with Liturgical Reflections of a Papal Master of Ceremonies (Mgr Guido Marini.)

There is a lot more good material and I recommend it to you. If you want to subscribe to get a nice shiny printed copy, here is a link to the subscriptions page.

Confirmo te Chrismate salutis

2011-11-12T23:19:00.001Z

At the last minute, Bishop John Sherrington stood in for Bishop Alan Hopes to adminster confirmation in the usus antiquior to 31 candidates at the Church of St James, Spanish Place. (This is organised each year by the Latin Mass Society.) He told me that he had been studying the rite with the help of a priest friend last night - he has only recently been consecrated Bishop and was rather thrown in the deep end. His preparation paid off and he managed very competently with the discreet help of Fr Andrew Southwell, together with Gordon Dimon, the Latin Mass Society MC.

This year there was one boy from my parish, one of my nieces, and a lady I recently received into the Church, so it was a joy for me to be with them. The combination of a beautiful Church and a superb parish choir makes for an impressive celebration which, I am sure, helps the disposition of those receiving the sacrament.

In advance of any function that I am assisting at, I make it clear that I am happy to assist in any capacity. Normally this means Deacon or Subdeacon. Today I joked in the sacristy that I was to take my now customary role at the Confirmations as Bombaceus Bearer ("bombaceus" is the Latin word used in liturgical books for a ball of cotton wool.) After the candidates have been anointed, a priest wipes the chrism from their foreheads with a ball of cotton wool - these are burnt after the service. I graduated up to subdeacon for Pontifical Benediction which followed the Confirmation.

Parents campaign against videos shown at Catholic school, get police sent after them

2011-11-12T20:51:00.004Z

Bonus Pastor Catholic College at Downham in South East London is at the centre of a controversy concerning materials that have been shown as part of the RE programme. A website has been set up by parents of young people at the school to protest about the materials: Bonus Pastor Exposed. It starts with a warning page because it does display extracts from the videos that have been shown to the pupils. I don’t recommend that you watch them. In order to write this post, I did, and rather wish that I hadn’t. So I’ll give some salient points to save you the trouble.

One is called “Keeping Mum” and shows a young couple being disturbed having sex, and the mother of the girl (a vicar’s wife) getting sexually involved with a golf instructor after being chided by her daughter who says that she “isn’t getting any.” The golf instructor then takes voyeuristic photographs of the mother. The clip includes liberal use of the F word, and partial nudity.

The second is an extract from “A short stay in Switzerland.” It shows a woman who takes spoonfuls of crushed tablets from a cereal bowl, washed down with vodka and orange, then lies down and puts a plastic bag over her head. The next scene shows that she survived. She expresses a desire to travel and get “the medical assistance I need to die.” At a nice clean clinic in Switzerland (the mythical version of Dignitas) she takes a potion under supervision and dies quite quickly, surrounded by her family. They are upset at the time, but soon are walking around happily in the sunshine.

The Bonus Pastor Exposed website was not set up in haste - the correspondence section starts with a letter sent to the Chair of Governors in March. The school’s response to parents essentially justifies the showing of the material as a means of stimulating discussion in accordance with the exam board’s recommendation of the material for the course Roman Catholic Christianity. (This incidentally confirms that the videos were actually shown to pupils.) Ironically, Google have contacted the parents' account at YouTube to tell them that because of the content, the videos have been given an adult rating.

(For a further critique of the Edexcel course and Roman Catholic Christianity, see the article by Fr Hugh MacKenzie in the current edition of Faith Magazine: GCSE Lessons on Catholic Marriage: A Syllabus of Errors.)

At the school’s website, a letter from the Headteacher and Chair of Governors mentions the distribution of leaflets which took place on the streets near the school and says

Please be assured that the matter has been dealt with by the police.

Leafleting in the street is not an offence, of course. An allegation of assault was made, and a number of police officers turned up at the home of a Greg Clovis, rather panicking his wife. I understand that he was out at the time and voluntarily attended the Police Station the next day. You can see the result of the police enquiry posted on YouTube, saying that:

Your case has been “No Further Actioned” and that’s the end of the matter. Sorry to bother you.

It seems that the Police did not think the allegation worth very much attention. I understand that Greg Clovis is taking legal advice on a possible claim for damages.

The letter at the school website also says:

You may have also heard that a website has been set up about the College and in particular, resources used in RE lessons.

For security reasons we advise you not to access the website as we believe that it could compromise your email account.

I have no qualms in giving you the link to the website since it does not contain any malicious code – why would it, after all? You don’t set up a campaigning website with malware on it that would deter people from looking at what you want to tell the world.

It is perhaps unfortunate for Bonus Pastor College that it has been singled out. As a priest I have heard many similar stories from other Catholic schools and colleges though usually those who complain do not wish to be in the public eye, and do not gather materials and correspondence in the way that this family has. If they complain to the Governors or the Diocesan school authorities, they are fobbed off with excuses and nothing is done.

Catholic parents who complain about such materials are often demonised and the controversy is presented in terms of them being the problem. This is a grave injustice. Parents who send their children to a Catholic school should be able to presume that they will not be exposed in class to videos such as this, and that they will not be left to form their own views about moral questions without a clear presentation of the moral teaching of the Catholic Church as truth and not just one view among many.

The Values Clarification approach (with the self-serving “let me play devil’s advocate” ploy) has done immense damage both in the Church and in society. Catholic schools should be in the vanguard of giving clear moral education since we are blessed with the magisterium to guide us in the teaching of Christ. If a syllabus recommends showing material like the videos above, it should be changed, or the Church should reject such a syllabus firmly and decisively. Let me give the last word to a commenter:

I am a Catholic and teacher in a secular school within a 5 mile radius of Bonus Pastor. We would not countenance showing this material in school - no school with Muslim pupils would allow it, without at least warning the parents and allowing them to opt out. Ironic, isn't it?

James Preece has also posted on this story here and here. The comments on both articles are also worth reading.

FSSP England vocations discernment weekend

2011-11-08T21:46:00.000Z

I am happy to recommend the vocation discernment weekend at St John Fisher House in Reading. I had the opportunity to visit the house and receive the kind hospitality of Fr de Malleray after the CCC Colloquium which was held nearby. A great deal of work had to be done to make the house habitable. The work has been completed with an impressive combination of good taste and appropriate simplicity, so that it can serve as a centre for the many works of apostolate which the FSSP has undertaken in England.

Here is the information for the weekend:

Vocation discernment weekend, at St John Fisher House in Reading on 16-17-18 December 2011:
For Catholic men between 18 and 35 years of age (under 18 please contact us).
Starts on Friday 16th December 2011 at 6pm – ends on Sunday 18th December 2011 mid-afternoon. Led by Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP.

Location: St John Fisher House is the residence of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in England & Wales.
Address: 17, Eastern Avenue, Reading, RG1 5RU, England.
Access: 27mn from London Paddington by direct trains up to every 10mn, and from London Waterloo. Direct trains from Oxford, Bournemouth, Bristol, Newcastle, York, Birmingham, Gatwick Airport, Southampton Airport, etc. Direct ‘RailAir’ buses from Heathrow to Reading train station every 20mn. Motorway: M4.
Limited overnight accommodation: please book now.

Programme: Spiritual conferences, socials, Holy Mass each of the three days (Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite) including polyphonic Sunday Mass, silent prayer, private talk with Fr de Malleray, FSSP. Fr de Malleray will explain what a vocation is in general and to the priesthood in particular.

Read here the Holy Father’s recent Letter to seminarians. Extract: “The proper celebration of the Eucharist involves knowing, understanding and loving the Church’s liturgy in its concrete form. In the liturgy we pray with the faithful of every age – the past, the present and the future are joined in one great chorus of prayer. As I can state from personal experience, it is inspiring to learn how it all developed, what a great experience of faith is reflected in the structure of the Mass, and how it has been shaped by the prayer of many generations.”

Cost: no set price for students or unemployed – any donation welcome; others: £50 suggested.
New: our special Vocations flyer and videos on www.fssp.org.uk/england/pages/vocations.

There is also an Advent weekend of recollection from 2-4 December and a Retreat for Priests next 5-9 March. See the website for further details of forthcoming events.

Irish Government not hostile to Holy See. Not at all.

2011-11-05T09:13:00.000Z

The Irish Government is closing its embassy to the Holy See because it yields no economic return, apparently. The 14 consulates in Spain (in addition to the embassy at Madrid) will remain open, including those in Lanzarote and Tenerife, as well as the consulates in Cannes, Antwerp and Bermuda. And I guess that the consulate at Guardabaer in Iceland must be bringing in lots of lolly. (See here for a list of Irish diplomatic missions.)

Relations between the Holy See and Ireland are "not in question" according to the press spokesman of the Holy See. Nevertheless for my next holiday, rather than visit Ireland, I thought I might visit somewhere where the government is less hostile to the Catholic Church. North Korea, Yemen ...?

I would never have made a good diplomat.

5-13 weeks pregnant? Could you go and help the GCN to train scanners?

2011-11-04T19:17:00.000Z

The Good Counsel Network has a new scanner but they need to train their ultrasonographers. If you are between 5 and 13 weeks pregnant, it would help them if you would be prepared to be a scan "model" for their trainees.

Although ultrasound scans are sometimes used to persuade women to abort babies who are deemed to be unworthy of life, they encourage many women to change their minds about abortion when they see a scan of their baby, so the introduction of an ultrasound scanner at the GCN is a very positive help in their work to persuade women to allow their babies to live.

If you have the opportunity to get up to London over the next few days, you could help the GCN to save babies. Phone 020 7723 1740 to book in. (See Maria Stops Abortion for more details.)

Also this from the Good Counsel Network:

The wish list has worked out brilliantly, resulting in 5 buggies, 2 cots, various other goods big and small, and especially a double moses basket and double buggy needed for a mother expecting twins - she was chuffed! The only problem has been we have not discovered any way of finding out who has sent the gifts so we have been unable to thank people. So please do pass on to your readers our heartfelt thanks to any who donated.

I mentioned the wish list in September so congratulations to all of you who helped not only to support the pro-life campaign but also to help out practically in the work of supporting mothers in difficulty.

A no-nonsense leader

2011-11-04T12:38:00.000Z

At the converts' class last night (sorry - "RCIA process") I was valiantly trying to explain the incarnation and the doctrine of Christ's two natures but as so often happens, we got distracted into the details of Catholic practice. This is not a bad thing since a lot can be taught through these concrete examples.

This time it was relics and so we could talk about the goodness of creation, the resurrection of the body and the veneration of the saints. Today provided an opportunity for me to expose for veneration the relic of St Charles Borromeo (above), one of my own favourite saints. The reliquary also contains relics of St Francis and St Dominic, and St Thomas of Canterbury.

At the seminary at Wonersh there is a fine side altar for St Charles. This is fitting in that Wonersh was the first truly Tridentine seminary in England, and St Charles is a good patron for priests. I won't attempt to summarise his life - there are plenty of accounts on the internet and I expect other bloggers will write about him today, so I will just relate from memory of reading his life a couple of anecdotes that are typical.

Visiting one religious house to insist on its reform he found that the gates were barred to him. St Charles lived in great simplicity and austerity in his own quarters but when engaged in public duties, he wore full dress as befits a Bishop and travelled with a formal retinue. Facing the disobedience of the religious, he turned the retinue about, went back to the Bishop's palace, wrote out the bull of excommunication, returned again to the house and pinned the bull on the gates.

He was also known for his courage during the plague. Some of the poor people were boarded up in their houses so that they could not get out and infect others. When St Charles travelled to visit them, he had a ladder brought with him so that he could climb up into an upstairs window to anoint the sick and give them Holy Communion. Here is a picture that I took in the Church of St Merry in Paris which shows St Charles giving Holy Communion to a victim of the plague:

You will notice that St Charles did not institute a rule about giving Holy Communion in the hand during the plague.

I recall another incident from his life, in which, having now been recognised as a no-nonsense reformer, he visited a religious house where the Fathers tried to put on a good show of keeping the rule and being obedient to the Council of Trent. At the close of his visit, they asked him for a memento. He said that he had left one in the chapel. After his departure, they went to the chapel and saw on the prie-dieu for the priest to prepare for Mass, that St Charles had signed his name in the dust.

St Charles Borromeo. Pray for us (and especially for priests.)

Holy souls and minor basilica update

2011-11-02T23:11:00.000Z

I did celebrate three Masses today, though not one after the other. In the morning we had our usual English Mass; in the afternoon I was at the school for Mass with the children of Year 3 (2nd grade in US currency) and in the evening it was Missa Cantata with absolutions at the catafalque.

It was good to have the opportunity to talk to the children and their parents about praying for the Holy Souls. I always point out that although November can be a sad for us, as we remember our loved ones who have died, it must be a great time of rejoicing in purgatory because many people suddenly remember again to pray for the dead.

The above picture of a catafalque is from the Church of Santissima Trinita in Rome, the home of the FSSP. (H/T NLM.) I post it here as a model for my senior servers who are always finding ways to improve the Church, the sanctuary, and the vestments. One or two of them (particularly Zephyrinus) buy tickets for the Euro Lottery each week in the hope that a win of 50 million euro or whatever it is this week, will provide us with the means to build a minor basilica at Blackfen. The above photo is a good example of the sort of thing we have in mind.

Singing the English Mass

2011-11-02T22:29:00.000Z

Singing the texts of the Mass brings a solemnity and gravitas to the Liturgy: this is particularly noticeable in the introduction of the new texts for the Novus Ordo. Mgr Andrew Wadsworth in various talks and articles has stressed how the new version of the English Missal contains much more music and that we are encouraged to sing the Mass.

Over the past couple of days I have begun to do this much more, using the simple chants that are printed in the Missal, singing the “The Lord be with you” and the orations at Mass. To my surprise, people actually joined in, even though I have not yet got round to printing out sheets for them. There is an instinct for sacred music just under the surface, I think, and it can be easily recovered.

In the new translation it is easier to sing the Collects since the grammatical structure of the prayers makes it more straightforward to determine where the metrum and flex should be. The antiphons can easily be sung to a psalm tone: later perhaps the children’s choir could have a stab at the “Simple Propers” settings. The setting for the ordinary is about as simple as it could be, yet is unmistakeably sacred music rather than an “Israeli Mass” type setting.

To sing the Mass in this way rather than simply to have a couple of more or less random hymns or songs makes a major impact on the celebration of Mass and it is a significant contribution to the recovery of the sacred in the Liturgy. At the family Mass yesterday for All Saints, the children joined in quite easily with singing the responses; with the other parts of the Mass sung simply, there was a real sense of sung worship rather than simply singing songs while we worship.

Taking this relatively easy step of singing the new texts of the Mass is not so much “brick by brick” but a large section of wall in the reform of the reform that can be built almost overnight.

Blogging cuts you off from real people, doesn't it?

2011-10-29T22:46:00.007+01:00

I am just trying to catch up with the blogosphere having had a couple of more than usually busy weeks. As a parish priest, I do like to see what my parishioners are blogging about and hence Bara Brith was a port of call. This led me on an to a post by Clare, Director of the St Mary Magdalen Choir at Brighton about a music conference in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton (clue: not much like the music that we have at Blackfen and Brighton.)

If you watched more than a few seconds of the truly gruesome video with which Clare illustrated her post, you might like to cleanse the palate with her three minute video of the Mass at Brighton for the Association of Latin Liturgy.

Watching it was an almost psychedelic experience: I just spent two days at the Confraternity Colloquium with most of the clergy in the film, including the parish priest, Fr Ray Blake; at one point Bones wafts across as thurifer, my parish’s Director of Music is there, together with some wonderful people one catches up with from time to time at blognics in London pubs, most of whom have been to Blackfen recently for one function or another: Mgr Andrew Burnham’s excellent address to the ALL is on my desk with notes and highlighting, Clare and Julia are planning a chant fest for All Souls here at Our Lady of the Rosary, and somewhere in the series of links I found an amusing picture from the LMS Aylesford Mass which I celebrated recently, of chaps who planned a protest against the invitation of John Cruddas MP to Blackfriars at Oxford where earlier this week I made a visit to the Blessed Sacrament after having coffee with one of the aforementioned protesters, and bumped into a hermit who has only been in touch previously by email, making off with him to the Eagle and Child for a gin and tonic. This is all true. And that sentence was 198 words - I'm doing my bit to make the new ICEL look moderate.

If only we could travel somehow via the internet to meet each other without having to spend any time at Paddington railway station, cruising the M25 or cramped into South Coast Trains. Now what was in those mushrooms I had earlier?

Encouragement to love and live the Catholic priesthood

2011-10-28T23:20:00.003+01:00

Sixty priests gathered over the past two damp autumnal days for the inaugural Colloquium of the British Province of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy at the Oratory School at Reading. Secular clergy from all over the country were joined by two bishops, and brother priests from the Dominicans, the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Franciscans of the Immaculate, the Fraternity of St Peter, the Society of Our Lady of the Trinity, and (with a profound bow to their greater antiquity) the Order of St Benedict.

Without prejudice to the other excellent elements of the Colloquium, I think that many of the clergy would agree with me that the highlight was the address given by Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury on Loving and Living the Catholic Priesthood Today. He spoke simply, warmly, lucidly and with great humour about the priestly vocation and life. I wondered whether I was being over-emotional but afterwards found that several other wizened old footsloggers like me also felt that there was a speck of dust in their eye or something.

Everyone I spoke to agreed that it was simply the best talk that they had ever heard from a Bishop on the priesthood. To say as much is not to make a point about other bishops: to do so would cheapen Bishop Davies’ sincere and moving meditation. I doubt whether any of us went away without a genuine resolution to change our own lives for the better in response to the witness of this holy priest among priests.

Mgr Andrew Wadsworth, the Executive Director of ICEL, spoke this morning about the new translation of the Missal which was, of course, used at the Masses at the Colloquium. Again we were encouraged by the perspective that he brought to bear upon the heart of the priestly ministry in the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy, and we were given food for thought on the development of that celebration through the proper place given to genuinely sacred music.

The last address was given by Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett of the Diocese of Lismore, whom I count as an old friend from years ago when he spoke at the London Faith Forum. He talked to us about the way in which the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy in Australia has worked over the years and gave us some useful practical advice. Among many gems from his experience, he told us of Fr Rod Bray who died not long ago. While in hospital he had a constant stream of visitors: in itself that might not be unusual for a priest. The remarkable thing about Fr Bray was that his visitors came not to bring him grapes or gossip but because they wanted to make their confession to him while he was still able to hear them.

For the record, the Sacred Liturgy was celebrated in the new rite, ad orientem, with provision made for priests to concelebrate or attend in choro, and facilities for priests to celebrate private masses if they wished. On both days there was adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with the opportunity for confession. (Thanks to the Oratory School the food was pretty good, too.)

Warmest congratulations are due to Fr Edwards, Fr Holden, Fr Whinder, and all the other priests who have organised the foundation of the Confraternity and its successful launch at such a fine Colloquium.

There are some more photos from the Colloquium at Fr Sam Medley's Flickr set.

Senseless "sense lines"

2011-10-26T23:04:00.003+01:00

I heartily agree with the principles put forward by Shawn Tribe of the New Liturgical Movement in the Proposal for the Internal Design and Layout of the Roman Missal of the Ordinary Form. You can see example pages at the Scribd file. Double columns, drop caps, page borders, line art headings - all good - and why on earth not?

Well one answer to that is the imposition of "sense lines" - which gives me the opportunity to absolve the CTS of any fault. In this post, I mean no criticism of the beautiful book that they have produced and which I have enthusiastically purchased.

But the CTS are bound by the demands of some body (ICEL? the Bishops? the CDW?) and must print all the prayers out

in a way
that someone
who does not read
very well
can follow
with his finger,
even if there are
as many as forty-three words
in the sentence,
and say the prayer
into the radio microphone
like a badly-formed haiku.
Amen.

Apart from the obviously infantilising nature of "sense lines", Shawn has hit upon a good argument that might cause Bishops, the Pope, ICEL, the CDW or whoever, to relax the imposition of this fatuous restriction: SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT!.

If missals could be printed
in double columns
with drop caps,
they would only use
about half the paper
that is required
to print our prayers
in sense lines.
Amen.

2011-10-26T22:42:00.000+01:00

This week I had a golden opportunity to visit my Alma Mater since my niece has just started as an undergraduate at Oxford. I was able to have lunch with her and a couple of friends and to visit Lincoln College (above) which is a gem that I never really got to know as a student. On my next visit, I'm bringing my gown as I understand that they still have formal Hall every day and that the chef earned a Michelin star.

On my last visit, I was challenged a couple of times on visiting the Oxford Union so I resolved to get myself a new fancy electronic membership card this time. I have to say that the Term Card is a significant improvement on the late 1970s. The classic debates are still the mainstay, but there are far more social events and visiting speakers than I remember. The Union is able to attract major figures, and this term includes debates on education, Russia, Israel, democracy and the regulation of the press.

The last debate of the term is still the silly one where undergraduates mess about. This term's Farewell Debate is on the motion "This House believes that girls can't throw." Current President, Izzy Westbury, an international cricketer, is speaking against.

Naturally I had to go and visit dear old Corpus, founded in 1517 by Bishop Foxe, a friend of St John Fisher. The emblem of the college is the pelican, seen here atop the sundial in the main quad:

Here is the chapel with its pre-reformation brass eagle lectern:

LMS day at Aylesford

2011-10-19T22:51:00.000+01:00

The Friary of Aylesford, home of the Carmelites, was dissolved by Henry VIII but recovered in the 20th century. Part was restored and some new chapels built, many of them decorated with ceramics by Adam Kossowski. The Relic Chapel houses the reliquary for the skull of St Simon Stock to whom Our Lady appeared, granting the brown scapular as a sign of her prayers and protection.

Since my childhood I have frequently visited the shrine and still love to go around the different chapels. It is one of those places that has a holiness that seems to seep through the stones. You could go there blindfold and know that it was hallowed by centuries of devotion.

The Relic Chapel has a side chapel in honour of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970, and a Carmelite Chapel which includes some unhaloed images of saints since beatified or canonised, such as Blessed Titus Brandsma and St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

Last Saturday I celebrated Mass there for the Latin Mass Society. The attendance was impressive - more than I remember from previous occasions - and the music, directed by Matthew Schellhorn, was sublime. In the afternoon, I gave a spiritual talk on the four last things, then Benediction, followed by the blessing of brown scapulars.

The Friars are always welcoming to us and most helpful in providing everything needed for the traditional Mass - they have some fine vestments and old books, too. One day, I'd love to be a sacred minister at High Mass using their papally-indulted blue High Mass set!

The above photo is taken from Joseph Shaw's flickr set where there are many more.

Confraternity Colloquium last call

2011-10-14T19:13:00.000+01:00

The British Province of St Gregory the Great of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy is holding a colloquium for priests from 27-28 October at the Oratory School in Reading. This will be a chance to hear and to meet Bishop Mark Davies. Another distinguished speaker will be Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett of Lismore Australia, a former chairman of the Australian CCC, who will be speaking on Liturgy and Evangelisation. As if that were not enough, Mgr Andrew Wadsworth, the Executive Director of ICEL will also be speaking on "The Priest, the Parish and the New Translation."

This Colloquium is set to be of historic importance for the Church in Britain so if any of you brother priests is free, even to attend part of the event, it would be worthwhile. Bookings can still be taken up until Sunday evening. Any priests who would like to attend should email Fr Richard Whinder, ring 020 8876 1326 or write to St Mary Magdalen’s Presbytery, 61 North Worple Way, Mortlake, London SW14 8PR.

I hope to see some of you there.

How should we sing Gregorian chant?

2011-10-13T19:10:00.001+01:00

Jeffrey Tucker today posted on the NLM the above video comparing two ways of singing the same communion antiphon (Aufer a me.) One is the Solesmes method and the other is the "Rhetorical method" which I have not come across before.

When I visited Talinn a couple of years ago, I experienced chant sung by a group that was enthusiastic for ancient music and interpreted the chant in a way that seemed to have a universal quality in that it would remind anyone of Jewish, Islamic or other sacred music that probably has similar roots. Since then, I have discovered the work of Ensemble Organum and others who also try to recover ancient ways of singing the text. Here is my favourite, the Kyrie Cunctipotens:

Without in any way denigrating the work of Solesmes, I think that in these times when Gregorian chant is being revived in many places throughout the world, it is useful to discuss how it can be interpreted and executed in the sacred liturgy.

A good meal and memories of the seventies

2011-10-13T12:33:00.000+01:00

Since Fr Z often features fine looking meals on his blog, I suggested that he might like to rustle up something at Blackfen since I am not really much of a cook. He very graciously obliged with a superb meal. Fr Briggs came over and we were treated to a splendid spaghetti al ragu followed by pork medallions and various nourishing additions. We drank Chateauneuf du Pape which was right for the occasion but it was Fr Z who noticed that Tesco had chosen to illustrate the bottle with the coat of arms of Pope Paul VI.

Thinking back to seminary days during the reign of Montini, I regaled the brothers with various songs that were sung at Mass in those days in place of the Introit, the Offertory or the Communion. In England we were much worse off than seminarians in the US: the music of the St Louis Jesuits, David Haas, and Marty Haugen was actually a great improvement on "Moses I know you're the man", "Yahweh is the God of my salvation", and various others from the "20th Century Folk Hymnal" and the volumes of "Songs in the Spirit."

After dinner, I fetched a copy of "Sing Praise", a hymn book compiled by students at the English College in the late seventies. I also happened to have on hand a white "Marlin Seagull" guitar. Fr Z has posted a photograph of me using it, so I though I ought to return the favour:

Blessed Alexandrina

2011-10-13T12:00:00.001+01:00

Although I happily celebrated the feast day Mass of St Edward the Confessor this morning, a correspondent reminded me that today is also the feast day of Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa. Here is some basic information about her:

Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa of Balasar, Portugal (1904 – 1955), one of the great mystics of modern times, was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004. A ‘victim soul', chosen by Christ to suffer in atonement for the sins of humanity, she was bedridden for life from the age of twenty after sustaining injuries while escaping from an attacker. She mystically underwent the Passion of Christ on Fridays and her sufferings helped to shorten World War II. Her astounding life has many connections to the events of Fatima and she is known in Portugal as ‘ the fourth seer of Fatima '. She urged all to “ Do penance, sin no more, pray the Rosary, receive the Eucharist ”. For the last thirteen years of her life she miraculously lived on the Holy Eucharist alone, a medically confirmed fact. She has been proposed by the Church as “ a model of purity and perseverance in the Faith for today's youth ”.

You can find out more about her at the Blessed Alexandrina website.

I think that in the 20th century God raised up some extraordinarily great saints in response to the extraordinary evils that took place at the time, and that Blessed Alexandrina was one, along with St Gemma Galgani, for example.

Does this sand dune tell us something about the liturgical reform?

2011-10-11T17:54:00.001+01:00

Environmental Graffiti has some stunning pictures of the 10 tallest sand dunes on earth which I found courtesy of Jennifer's Favourite Links which is well worth having on your blogroll.

The pictures and narrative are all fascinating but I was particularly struck by the Cerro Medanoso (above) which is the second tallest dune in the world at 1,805 feet. The desert in which it lies is also the driest place on the planet. Apparently NASA has tested instruments here for future missions to Mars.

What caught my interest was the statement that some areas are thought to have had no rain to speak of between 1570 and 1971. Make of that what you will. Advocates of the modern liturgy might say that it was dry as dust from Quo Primum to the introduction of the Novus Ordo when the Spirit came down "like the dewfall". I prefer to think that perhaps there was a disturbance to the natural order and the rainfall indicated a certain discontinuity. Feel free to offer other suggestions in the combox :-)

Encouragement and support for priests

2011-10-11T17:39:00.000+01:00

Fr John Boyle has a post on Bishop Sample sharing his Vision and Program for the New Evangelisation in which the renewal of the Sacred Liturgy has pride of place. Regarding evangelisation itself, he said that the programme is, well, the gospels. He also set out some pastoral priorities:

The call to holiness
Prayer in the Church
Sunday Mass
Penance/Confession
The primacy of grace (not just our own efforts)
Listening to the Word
Proclaiming the Word

I was especially struck by this point in Fr Boyle's report of the recent convocation of priests of the Diocese of Marquette:

The bishop confided to the priests that he prays and offers sacrifice for each priest in the diocese. His Friday Mass, fast, prayer, abstinence are all offered for the priests of the diocese. He asks Our Lady to pour out the Precious Blood and Water that flowed from her Son's side upon all the priests and that she would hold us close to her Immaculate Heart.

It is very good of His Excellency not only to do that but also to communicate to priests that he does. During the convocation, he invited priests to make the following Act of Consecration:

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO MARY

Mary, Mother of Jesus and Queen of Peace
since Jesus from the Cross
gave you to me,
I take you as my own.

And since Jesus gave me to you,
take me as your own.
Make me docile like Jesus on the Cross,
obedient to the Father,
trusting in humility and love.

Mary, my Mother,
in imitation of the Father,
who gave His Son to you,
I too give myself to you;
to you I entrust all that I am,
all that I have
and all that I do.

Help me to surrender ever more fully to the Spirit.
Lead me deeper into the Mystery of the Cross and Resurrection
and the fullness of the Church.

As you formed the heart of Jesus by the Spirit,
form my heart to be the throne of Jesus
in His glorious coming.
Amen!

At our Deanery Clergy Conference today, I spoke a little about the recently published document from the Congregation for Clergy: The Priest, Minister of Divine Mercy which gives guidance for priests on the ministry of the Sacrament of Penance and on giving spiritual direction. I printed off the examination of conscience (p.65-68) and the prayers before and after hearing confessions (p.69-70) I'll order some copies for the next Deanery meeting.

Altar missals nearly ready for delivery

2011-10-11T16:41:00.001+01:00

The CTS reports that the new Altar Missals are (nearly) packed and ready to go. They are being packed and labelled at a warehouse in Hampshire and will be despatched on 24 October.

I received this news just now from the Catholic Communications Network (ccn@cbcew.org.uk) who recently emailed me to ask whether,as a Catholic blogger, I would like to be on their mailing list for press releases. Some of us have criticised the CCN in the past, so to give credit where it is due, I think it is a very positive development for the CCN to be in touch with Catholic bloggers in this way.

London blognic

2011-10-11T09:13:00.001+01:00

The Coal Hole on the Strand was buzzing last night when about 30 Catholic bloggers descended to the downstairs bar at the invitation of Fr Zuhlsdorf. Beforehand I celebrated Mass at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane: the regular Latin Mass Society Mass which happens every Monday at 6.30pm.

Fr Selvester of OMNIApost was there along with Fr Ray Blake and Deacon James Bradley of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. We all had the chance to swap stories and chat about the issues that are creating news on the blogosphere. Part of this conversation always involves the things that we know about but choose not to put on our blogs in order to avoid scandal.

It was really a great success in bringing together Catholics who have a love for the Church and a real desire to evangelise using the new media. Conversations revolved around liturgy, pro-life politics, lay apostolate, marriage, families, bishops, blogging, vocations, the ordinariate, gay masses, prayer, preaching and more.

It was an evening of Catholic action in the best sense and I for one, as a priest, came away revitalised by contact with good fellow Catholics who want to do their best to help the Church fulfil her mission. For me as a priest it is most consoling to be in the company of so many devout and committed lay people who want to be active in the work of the Church and promote her dogmatic and moral teaching.

I don't know what the Coal Hole made of it all but I think at least the staff were treated with kindness and consideration - they always say that they like Monday evenings when we come in.

Here's a good photo of three clerical friends of mine:

(L-R Fr Ray Blake, Fr John Zuhlsdorf, Deacon James Bradley)

Faith Magazine latest issue online

2011-10-09T19:45:00.001+01:00

The latest issue of Faith Magazine is now online. You can download the whole issue as a pdf or you can look at individual articles.

This issue I have an article on The New (corrected) ICEL Translation which begins:

People have grown old and died waiting for an accurate English translation of the Missal of Pope Paul VI. Most Catholics under 40 years of age have never been able to participate at Mass said according to a faithful rendering of the official Latin text. This injustice to the People of God is now being rectified, and not before time.

Our policy in Faith is to make all of the content of the magazine available online.

Here is the link to subscribe if you would like a shiny printed copy. Six issues per year: UK £25, overseas airmail £33 (there are other options.)

Defend Marriage in Scotland

2011-10-08T18:18:00.000+01:00

The recently started blog Defend Marriage in Scotland is subtitled "News and Commentary on the War Against Marriage and the Family in Scotland". In particular, they invite you to canvass your MSP.

This is a good use of blogging for a particular and important issue. If you live in Scotland, this is an essential blog for you. If you live in the United States, it may be of interest to see what's coming your way some time soon.