The Hermeneutic of Continuity

The Rorate Caeli blog has a new rumour about the liberalisation of the classical Roman rite. This time, it is Father Laguérie, the Superior of the new Institute of the Good Shepherd. He is quoted as saying: ...one may say, I believe, that this giant step which has just been taken is, not only for us but for all the Church, is the sign, the preparation, the propaedeutics of this document which shall be released, certainly in November, in which the rights of the Traditional Mass shall be restored in all their dignity. There have been rumours before, of course. This one is a bit stronger in that there is a named source. The Institute of the Good Shepherd is based in Bordeaux and was approved on 8 September as a "Society of Apostolic Life". Current membership comprises five priests and a number of seminarians, all former members of the Society of St Pius X. Some of the seminarians are due for ordination shortly and the first ordinations will be celebrated by Cardinal Castrillon...

FAITH IN FOCUS AUTUMN 2006 PROGRAMME All talks are held at the St Vincent’s Centre, Carlisle Place, near Westminster Cathedral starting at 7.00 p.m. Please note: Two of our meetings this term will take place on TUESDAYS (see below) Monday 25th September What is the Faith Movement? Fr Stephen Dingley Tuesday 10th October Pakistan: Can the Church survive the threat of Fundamentalist Islam? John Pontifex, of Aid to the Church in Need Monday 23rd October Gospel of Life or Culture of Death: Protecting the next generation Antonia Tully (SPUC) Tuesday 7th November ‘Light in Dark Places- The Life of Grace in the Lord of the Rings Fr Mark Swires Monday 20th November Mary at Cana and Calvary: Mother of the Church and Model of the Church Fr Roger Nesbitt Monday 4th December Holy Mass – Celebrated by Fr Mark Vickers Venue to be announced About Faith In Focus Faith in Focus offers a fresh and dynamic approach to addressing the needs of young Catholics in London. Aimed specifically at young adults,...

Where'er I go, they shout HALLO! Where did you get that hat?

While at Parkminster recently, I had the opportunity to consult some of their books in the library. I came across a fascinating 3 volume work (folio, vellum bound) by J Bona from 1747, entitled Rerum Liturgicarum . It is a treasure trove of comments and references on the rite of Mass and on liturgical matters in general. In Volume III, p.368ff., the author discusses the question of communion in the hand, giving more copious references than I have seen before to the early existence of the practice. He also traces its decline, saying that it probably ceased before Gregory the Great (d.604). In support of this, he cites a story in which St Gregory gave communion to a dumb man who miraculously recovered his speech. He gave communion into the mouth and this is not commented on as an innovation. (Gregory I Dialogues 3. seu 9 cap.3 PL 77.223/224) He also cites the Council of Rouen (c.650) under Clovis, King of the Franks, which forbade communion in the hand. Earlier than this, the Councils of...

This today from SPUC News: Advisers to British government ministers have said that schoolchildren should be given compulsory lessons about the benefits of abortion. The Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy has recommended that children as young as five years old should be taught about abortion. They said that the lessons should aim to combat the "myths" that might put teenagers off having abortions. [ Daily Mail, 7 September ] The advisory group has also said that free condoms should be handed out to children in sports halls, shops and swimming pools. Gill Frances, who leads the group, refused to specify the age of the children who should be given condoms but indicated that it could include children as young as twelve. Robert Whelan of the think-thank, Civitas, said: "Up until now we have always taken a dim view about people who go to swimming baths to talk to little boys about sex. Now it seems to be Government policy. This is not progress." [ Telegraph...

Yesterday, Pope Benedict celebrated Mass at Munich. During his homily, he spoke of how social issues and the Gospel are inseparable: The Catholic Church in Germany is outstanding for its social activities, for its readiness to help wherever help is needed. During their visits "ad limina," the bishops, most recently those of Africa, have always mentioned with gratitude the generosity of German Catholics and ask me to convey that gratitude. Just recently, the bishops of the Baltic countries told me about how German Catholics assisted them greatly in rebuilding their churches, which were badly in need of repair after decades of Communist rule. Every now and then, however, some African bishop will say: "If I come to Germany and present social projects, suddenly every door opens. But if I come with a plan for evangelization, I meet with reservations." Clearly some people have the idea that social projects should be urgently undertaken, while anything dealing with God or ...

The new term starts at Wonersh today so I am in the Surrey countryside to begin teaching the course on sacramental theology. I have a class of ten students this year: 6 seminarians, 2 lay students, and two former Anglican clergy. One thing that I must do is to put up some resources on the internet. Many of the magisterial documents that are relevant to the course can be easily referenced from reliable sources and, of course, the most commonly used translation of the works of the Fathers of the Church is at New Advent. I have found that in recent years, there has been considerable growth in the source material that is available in this way.

In his Manual for Interior Souls , Grou has a chapter called "The Way of the Cross". He uncompromisingly sets out how bearing our cross daily is essential for a life of true devotion to Christ. He goes through five ways in which we are called to carry the cross: Avoiding sin and all occasions of sin. Mortifying our passions and moderating our desires to keep the flesh subject to the spirit Separating our minds from terrestrial, carnal and temporal objects, to occupy our thoughts and affections only with celestial, spiritual and eternal things Receiving patiently from the hand of God all adversities which happen to us Embracing willingly all the trials of the spiritual life - the cross of love which is the portion of a few favoured souls. This is all quite daunting, of course. In the second half of the chapter, he shows how this way of the cross is in fact the only route to true happiness. As he says: I shall first lay down as a general rule, that there is no, and never can be...

While in London today, I was able to meet up with Brendan Gerard who worked for SPUC for some years and then went to Wigratzbad to study for the priesthood with the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP) . He was recently ordained to the Diaconate and should be ordained priest soon, Deo volente . We arranged to meet outside Westminster Cathedral after the Evangelium launch. I found Brendan with the blogally ubiquitous Fr Richard Whinder: Over a rather late lunch at the Spaghetti House, I was very grateful to find out more about the Fraternity and to discuss matters liturgical, moral and pastoral. If you have not heard of the FSSP , you can visit the website and find out more. The mission statement of the Fraternity reads: The Fraternity of St. Peter seeks to respond to the Holy Father's appeal through an active apostolate in the service of the Church. We seek to reunite those who have been alienated by liturgical abuse and theological dissent by offering the sacred liturgy in all ...

Today I was up in Westminster at Vaughan House for the launch of Evangelium , a new catechetical resource which I have mentioned a few times on this blog. Fergal Martin from the CTS introduced the presentation, telling of how they are often trying to dream up good material and that he was delighted when two seminarians walked in with an excellent programme they had developed while teaching young people in Rome. The authors are two recently ordained priests, Fr Marcus Holden (who was recovering from food poisoning and only just managed to be there) ... ... and Fr Andrew Pinsent who is currently engaged in a research fellowship in Philosophy over in the states, but is home for the summer. Evangelium consists of 25 stand-alone modules following the structure of the Catechism of the Catholic Church : Creed, Sacraments, Morals and Prayer. Each of the 25 modules is covered by two pages in an attractive, colour participants' book. The Presenter's book gives suggestions and guidance o...

Yesterday morning, a good number of priests gathered for the funeral of Fr George Torre at St John Fisher in Bexley. Bishop Tripp was principal celebrant with Bishop Lynch assisting. Fr Michael Jones gave an excellent homily which combined teaching on the priesthood with a warm and amusing account of Fr Torre's priestly life. After a visit to our local old people's home, I celebrated Mass for Our Lady of the Rosary school to mark the beginning of the school year. Fr Charles Briggs and I then met up for a late lunch at the Tiger's Head in Chislehurst. This normally has good hand-pumped ale but yesterday it was almost like a Monty Python sketch as each of the pumps was "off". After Rosary and Benediction, there was a good gathering in the parish social club and a chance to do some of that informal catechesis which is so important. Today, I'm going up to Westminster for the launch of Evangelium. I'll take my camera so there should be some photos here soon of ...