The Hermeneutic of Continuity

It snowed again last night and this morning. I was out a-sweeping and a-gritting before breakfast - all good manual work for me. Our Lady of the Rosary school was open - the Headteacher is against shutting the school for relatively trivial reasons. Apparently lots of schools in Bexley were closed. ("Why?) Paul, a regular commenter, sent me this picture of himself, children, and completed snowman. Children in southern England don't often get the chance to build a snowman. I once took some 17 year olds to the Faith Conference at Stonyhurst when it snowed oop North. They had never built a snowman before in their lives.

Gillibrand has a funny post about the date of the indult with a pig flying over St Peter's Square. He also has the Curt Jester's Motu Proprio random date generator . Then it dawned on me. I know the date of the universal permission to celebrate the Classical Roman Rite... 14 July 1570 (Bull Quo primum tempore of Pope St Pius V) . In fact, a Commission of Cardinals, including Cardinal Ratzinger , appointed by Pope John Paul II, unanimously agreed that Pope Paul VI never gave the bishops the authority to forbid priests from celebrating the traditional rite of Mass and that priests cannot be obliged to celebrate the new rite of Mass. The rumour of this conclusion became widespread. It was publicly confirmed in 1995 by Cardinal Stickler (a member of the commission) at the Christi Fidelis conference in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The Cardinals wished to draw up a document affirming the universal right of priests to celebrate the Classical Rite but opposition from some episcopal co...

I'm getting a little feedback on our Latin Mass last Sunday. Chris(tine), our RCIA catechist and a convert herself was bowled over by it. She had comments from others ranging from enthusiastic to indifferent. One problem is that the Mass was quite a bit longer than the usual 10.30am Mass. For a normal parish Sunday Mass, this can be awkward for non-trivial reasons, especially for families. The sung Latin ordinary takes much longer than the sung English version that we usually use - and we don't sing the Creed when saying Mass in English. If we continue with the Novus Ordo , I would seriously consider dropping the Bidding Prayers; and I am very tempted to implement Cardinal Ratzinger's suggestion of a silent Canon (in fact, the Canon said quietly). "Tempted" because he was suggesting that the liturgical norms be changed, not that we just do it. Then again, there's no rubric saying you have to use a microphone or shout as the Protestant reformers insisted. From ...

Visiting Westminster Cathedral this afternoon, I thought that I was in a scene from "The War of the Worlds." Mgr Mark Langham explains all on the Cathedral blog . Apparently, at night, they are inspecting the vaults.

In the combox for the post Campion College Sydney invites students from Britain , Fr Julian Green writes: Fr Fleming is also coming to Birmingham next week! He will be giving the first Pope John Paul II Evangelium Vitae lecture at the University (sponsored by the Catholic Chaplaincy). The lecture will be on "The Status of the Unborn Child in International Human Rights Law". There will also be the opportunity to meet and speak to Fr Fleming. The lecture is open to all members of the public. It is taking place at the University of Birmingham's main Edgbaston campus, School of Education (enter by East Gate), Vaughan Jeffries lecture theatre, starting at 7pm. It would be great to fill the lecture theatre for this important lecture. For more information contact me on j.c.green@bham.ac.uk

The full content of the January-February 2007 issue of Faith Magazine is available (free of charge) online. The editorial article is titled "Fostering the Regensburg Insight" and this is followed up by an article on Islam, Protestantism and Divergence from Catholicism", and an account of "A Muslim's Journey to Christ." Fr Nick Schofield (Roman Miscellany) has a piece on the truth behind the myth of the Spanish Inquisition and scripture scholar Luiz Ruscillo writes on "The Primacy of Christ in Wisdom Literature." And lots more...

The New Liturgical Movement reports on a recent interview with Cardinal Hoyos about the Classical Roman Rite. The third question and answer is quite blunt: To make the Mass attractive and joyful to the youth of this culture of the image, there have been initiatives such as the "Disco Mass", and dances of erotic origin were seen in Africa. Is [the 1962 Missal] a solution [original text: "remedio"] to stop these abuses? It is an element, not "the solution". The new liturgy has not been "the solution". Were our churches fuller or emptier before? They have been emptied! It is true that not only due to this, but the Mass becomes one among several other rites of the world, and to strike what is sacred is a grave matter. The meaning of "Sacrifice" was forgotten. The Eucharist carries [us] to the Resurrection, but through Passion and Death. It is a feast of the spirit, for our redemption. The most important for Jesus was not eating with Him, ...

( click to enlarge ) Fr John Fleming, the President of Campion College in Sydney, Australia, is coming to London next week, to give a talk about this Catholic College which enrolled its first students last year. Campion College offers the chance to study a genuinely Catholic Liberal Arts programme to degree level: something currently unavailable in Great Britain. Fr Fleming says: The uniqueness of the programme lies in the integration of all of its courses. The subjects in philosophy, theology, literature, history and science are all studied so that the influences of each subject on the other is a fundamental part of the program. Thus when a student is learning ancient history, they will read the great literary works of the time, consider the philosophers of the same period and the theology of the Old Testament. The talk will give information on this opportunity to study in Australia. It will take place at The City of Westminster Archive Centre, 10 St Ann’s Street, London SW1P 2DE on W...

The following is an extract from the message of Pope Benedict to the youth of the world on the occasion of the 22nd World Youth Day. If you are engaged to be married, God has a project of love for your future as a couple and as a family. Therefore, it is essential that you discover it with the help of the Church, free from the common prejudice that says that Christianity with its commandments and prohibitions places obstacles to the joy of love and impedes you from fully enjoying the happiness that a man and woman seek in their reciprocal love. The love of a man and woman is at the origin of the human family and the couple formed by a man and a woman has its foundation in God’s original plan (cf Gen 2:18-25). Learning to love each other as a couple is a wonderful journey, yet it requires a demanding “apprenticeship”. The period of engagement, very necessary in order to form a couple, is a time of expectation and preparation that needs to be lived in purity of gesture and words. It all...

Claudio told me on Saturday of an interesting place of Pilgimage: the shine of Volto Santo in the village of Manopello, about 30 Km from Pescara. The shrine is home to the sudarium or veil that is reputed to be that with which Veronica wiped the Holy Face of Our Lord. No paint has been found to exist on the veil and the image has historically been regarded as ảχειροποίητος, "not made by (human) hand." The image has been found to map exactly onto the image of Our Lord's face on the Holy Shroud of Turin. On 1 of September 2006, Pope Benedict XVI visited the village of Manoppello to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the sacred Veil.

I was wondering how to finish up blogging this evening on an upbeat note. I know people like to see pictures of priests in birettas, even if it is a grumpy old git like me, but Fr Stephen Langridge's "Men in Black" poster is a much more savvy advertisement. ( click for full size printable version ): However, I was also thinking that we've got to encourage vocations to the religious life as well, especially among young women. Then I received an email from Claudio whose daughter recently joined the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate ... Here is Sr Maria Rafka of Our Lady of Fatima, F.I. taken immediately after her investiture on 1 August 2006. If you're a dad, I expect you can kinda guess just how proud Claudio is!