The Hermeneutic of Continuity

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... fasci...

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...

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 submiss...

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

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

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.)

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 .

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 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 thr...

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.

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 a...

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.

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 Roya...

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 S...

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.

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 te...

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 ...

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 .

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.

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...

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 au...

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."

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.

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 2011 7.30pm 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 r...

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 Mas...

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...

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

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 .

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...

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...

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 ...

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.

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...

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 an...

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 ...

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 ch...