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Seminarians killed in avalanche

The sad news has come through today that three third year seminarians of the Society of St Pius X were killed today in an avalanche while walking in the Swiss mountains. A fourth was rescued and taken by helicopter to hospital. Abbé Christian Thouvenot asks for prayers for the repose of their souls and prayers for their families and for their confreres at the seminary community.
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CTS pamphlets on the Mass

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Recently the Catholic Truth Society sent me the new pamphlets that they have published - an excellent variety of titles that can be seen on the Latest Products page of the CTS website. I have read a few of them and look forward to reading the rest. A significant addition to the catalogue is a pamphlet with the order of Mass for the extraordinary form in Latin and English. This comes in two versions: a normal pamphlet style with colour cover featuring an illustration from the book of hours of the Duc de Berry (£1.95), and a black leatherette bound edition with ribbon marker (£4.95). After the text of the Mass, the prayer for the Queen, the Leonine prayers and some private prayers of thanksgiving are included, as well as a list of references to the scripture readings for the Sundays of the year. A companion pamphlet is Fr Richard Whinder's " The Extraordinary form of the Mass Explained ." This is a very well thought-out introduction to the usus antiquior , beginning appro...
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First experience of the old Mass

Richard Marsden has posted an article about the party on Saturday. At the morning Mass, he had his first experience of the usus antiquior and it is interesting to read his reflections: summed up in the phrase "there was no faffing about". He says: I thought the best plan of action was to just sit at the back, observe and join in with the Latin I knew, without trying to flick around in the booklet to follow it. I think that this is a good approach for anyone who is new to the older form of the Mass: you can look through a booklet or missal later when you are a little more used to what is going on. (See: The Hermeneutic's Party )
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Great video in support of life

H/T to Fr Ray Blake for this family video which powerfully illustrates the value of a thbe life of a little girl with trisomy. The doctors said it would be blessing if she died. The family's love shows that it was a blessing that she was allowed to live and that "God doesn't make mistakes."
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Catholic Mom of 10 deleted

I was very sorry to hear from Jackie Parkes that she has, for personal reasons, deleted her blogs. Jackie did some great service as a blogger, campaigning for the family, for chastity and in support of the great work of the Birmingham Oratory.
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"The paths of hope are opened"

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Rorate Caeli reports on an interview given by Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos to the RCN RAdio Network of Colombia. Here is a link to a report of the interview (in Spanish). His Eminence reiterated that any honest man would reject viscerally what happened in the holocaust, that he personally rejected it and agreed with the Church that we should never forget, so that humanity never repeats these atrocities. He also spoke of how the Holy Father wanted the Church to move forward to ensure that the unity of the Church be rebuilt, and added: "[W]hat is important at this moment is that the Pope has stopped a schism. The charity that Christ wanted to exist in the Church has been remarkably reestablished, and paths of hope are opened." For the record, Bishop Williamson has been removed by the SSPX from his post as Rector of the Seminary of La Reja in Argentina.
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Circular Firing Squad

Diogenes has a good analysis of the (continuing) Public Relations mess at the Vatican. See: The Circular Firing Squad . As he says: May I offer a word of advice, to any beleaguered Vatican official who might be ready to chip in with his own opinion? Don't. This mess was the result of a communications plan that was badly conceived, badly designed, and badly executed. It won't be solved by ad hoc announcements that have all those same characteristics.
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God bless our Pope!

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Sorry to be offline over the weekend. The backlog of comments is posted now - apologies for the delay. Saturday was a good day: Missa Cantata in the morning in honour of St Romuald. It was something of a challenge to work Pope Benedict's message for World Communications Day into a sermon about the 10th century founder of the Camaldolese but, as Basil Fawlty would say "I think I got away with it." As you can see from the photo of some of the gathering, there were plenty of children and young people there. during an excellent lunch provided by Trisha and the Lunch Club team, we toasted the Holy Father and they learned how to shout "Viva il Papa!" As you can see, the Ferraiuola has now arrived from Barbiconi's so it got worn for the occasion. We concluded the afternoon with Solemn first Vespers of Septuagesima followed by Benediction. To finish with, we had the prayer for the Holy Father and the hymn "God bless our Pope!" We sang all five verses...
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A day in the life of the Good Shepherd students in Rome

Thanks to NLM for this video of a day in the life of the students of the Institute of the Good Shepherd in Rome. There is much here with which to be impressed - the devout celebration of Lauds and Mass in the morning, the friendly engagement with the lay students at the University Santa Croce, the parish priest's sensible recognition that here are some chaps who can help him with parish catechesis, the community gathered for a festive meal (prepared with consummate ecological correctness from natural ingredients) and the sense of hope and joy in the priesthood. Hey! there are even some scenes featuring the house mascot "Gustave" the cat. L'Institut du Bon Pasteur à Rome by KTOTV
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Not an "una cum" Mass

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You have to know something about the fringes of über-traddiness to understand that headline. In the Canon, the priest prays quietly that our merciful Father will accept our offerings and prays together with the Pope and the local Bishop. A lot of this is missed in the current English translation so here it is in the ICEL "White Book" version which we may be able to use late in 2010: To you, therefore, most merciful Father, we make humble prayer and petition through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord: that you accept and bless  these gifts, these offerings, these holy and unblemished sacrifices, which we offer you first of all for your holy catholic Church. Be pleased to grant her peace, to guard, unite and govern her throughout the whole world, together with [ una cum ] your servant N. our Pope and N. our Bishop, and all those who, holding to the truth, hand on the catholic and apostolic faith. Now if you believe that the recent Popes have all been heretics and that the see of...
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When is a foetus called a "growing baby"?

When the Government wants to discourage smoking. John Smeaton has a good post highlighting the way in which the NHS speaks of the unborn child to mothers who find it difficult to give up smoking. "Well done! Quitting smoking is the best decision you can make for you and your growing baby." At the same time, the Government funds organisations that describe the killing of an unborn child as the removal of a pregnancy. See: UK Government depicts unborn as fully human and alive in anti-smoking campaign
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Popular posts from this blog

Is your alb back to front?

Fr Z has initiated a roaring discussion by asking the simple question whether maniples can be used in the Novus Ordo Mass. ( What Does The Prayer Really Say?: Maniples ) One commenter has referred to an important source for the question that has proved popular among modern liturgists. An answer in Notitiae of 1978 said: "When the rubrics of the Missal of Paul VI say nothing or say little on particulars in some places, it is not to be inferred that the former rite should be observed. Therefore, the multiple and complex gestures for incensation as prescribed in the former Missal are not to be resumed." This is, of course, a strange answer. Saying that it must not be inferred that a rite should be used does not imply that it must not be used. We need to check the Latin of this text. (If anyone with access to a library can check it, I have seen the reference given elsewhere as Notitiae 14 (1978) 301-302, no. 2) Let us in any case take the more restrictive interpretation, bel...
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1962 Missal pdf online

The Church Music Association of America and Jeffrey Tucker of the New Liturgical Movement have made available the 1962 Missal online in pdf format (72Mb). The file is hosted at Musica Sacra , the website of the CMAA, thanks to a generous gift from Fr Robert Skeris While you are at it, take a look at the articles clarifying the rules for music at Low Mass and music at High Mass .
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The blessing of a chariot

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When I studied Latin in Rome with Fr Reginald Foster, he used to suggest that a good word for a car was autorhaeda , a word in fact used in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis of 1965 when speaking of a visit made by Pope Paul VI to the Basilica of St Chrysogonus in Trastevere. The word raeda (without the "h") was used by Caesar, Cicero and Horace for a travelling wagon with four wheels and the addition of "auto" does not make for too awful a neologism. In the Rituale Romanum , the blessing for a motor vehicle is the Benedictio vehiculi seu currus . The word currus is normally translated as chariot and reflects the way that people often view their car. Since one's motor vehicle is more likely to be the locus of one's death or injury than many other artefacts, it does make sense to have it blessed. Above you can see us striding purposefully past the Georgian houses of Victoria Road and here is the blessing of the classic mini: The blessing given in the ...
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Litany of Syrian Saints

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In response to my post yesterday about Praying to St Ephrem and the Syrian Saints a reader sent me this Litany of Syrian Saints which he composed himself last night. Let us pray for peace in Syria and in the Middle East. Litany of Syrian Saints For private use only Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison, Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison. Christe audi nos, Christe audi nos. Christe exaudi nos. Christe exaudi nos. God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, God the Holy Ghost, Holy Trinity, one God, Holy Mary, pray for us. Holy Mother of God, Holy Virgin of Virgins, St Michael, St Gabriel, St Raphael, All ye Holy Angels and Archangels, St John the Baptist, St Joseph, All ye Holy Patriarchs and Prophets, pray for us. Blessed Peter the Apostle, and first Patriarch of Antioch, Blessed Paul the Apostle, born in Tarsus, Blessed Paul the Apostle, blinded and converted on the way to Damascus, Blessed Pau...
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Saint Gabriel

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The angels call for our veneration and awe as part of God’s creation. Part of the destructive modernism of the 1970s included advice to Catholic school teachers that they should not talk to children about angels. This wrought lasting damage which continues to need rectifying. We should include in our prayers a heartfelt recourse to our own Guardian Angels. The Archangel Gabriel “God is my strength” would be terrifying were he to appear to any of us. Our Lady was “troubled” at the word of Saint Gabriel and wondered at the manner of the salutation. Immediately, according to his mission, the awesome messenger explained himself. Modern retelling of the event is often reduced to the jejune “Mary said Yes to God”. In fact, she said “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word”. This conveys more accurately the flawless faith and trust of the Immaculata. In the infinitely wise providence of the Father, we now know the structure of the event in even more detai...
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