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"Light of the World" published in UK by CTS

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With all the furore over "Light of the World", I forgot to give details of the publisher. The book is published in the UK by the Catholic Truth Society by agreement with Ignatius Press who are the publishers for the USA. The book is beautifully produced and typset. There is a foreword from George Weigel and and introduction by Peter Seewald. I am glad that CTS got the rights to publish such a prestigious title and I hope that the sales of this book will assist their many other good works. Currently Light of the World is available from the CTS at the special offer price of £11.21. (240 pages. Hardback)
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Bicycle handlebar Rosary attachment

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There are many apps for saying the Rosary on your smartphone. Michael Guglielmo, a Catholic and a keen cyclist wrote with an idea that he has come up with for a bicycle handlebar Rosary attachment. Unlike smartphone apps, this is one you make and install manually. Here are the instructions: There's not much to making it. Two decorative pipe cleaners, two light brackets, two longer screws to replace the short ones that came with the brackets and one or two old rosaries which I hope would carry their former blessings with them. You can also use craft store beads and with the intent of bring the completed project to church for a blessing. The beauty of this is that the pipe cleaners hold the beads in place so they stay in place when moved. In addition, if it breaks, the beads don't scatter and its an easy fix. Michael does add the caveat that it should only be used in safe areas. Probably not wise to use it when weaving through traffic in central London.
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Pope praises "Heralds of the Gospel"

CTS sent me a copy of Light of the World this morning. Let me begin by congratulating the " Heralds of the Gospel " who are singled out for praise by the Holy Father in the chapter on the Dictatorship of Relativism. Asked by Peter Seewald whether Christianity has played itself out as other civilisations have in the past, Pope Benedict replies that his meetings with Bishops around the world help him to look beyond the Western world. He adds: In Brazil, for example, there is, on the one hand, strong growth among the sects, which are often very dubious because, for the most part, they promise only prosperity, external success. There are also, however, new Catholic awakenings, a dynamic of new movements, for instance, the “Heralds of the Gospel”, young people who are seized by the enthusiasm of having acknowledged Christ as the Son of God and of bringing him into the world. As the Archbishop of São Paolo tells me, new movements are being formed there constantly. And so there ...
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Pope/condoms IV - "Do you think that's wise, Sir?"

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Having given some background in the previous posts, I must offer a reaction of my own to the Holy Father's comments on AIDS and condoms. It would be along the lines of Sergeant Wilson in Dad's Army: "Do you think that's wise, Sir?" On the one hand, we know that the widespread distribution of condoms to tackle the problem of HIV/AIDS has not worked in practice: the Holy Father affirms that and it has been the subject of much comment around the internet over the years. On the other hand, secularists and militant gays use the condom issue to attack the Church as heartless and out of touch since in some individual sexual acts, a condom will reduce the risk of infection. (There are, of course, acts in which condoms do not apply, so to speak.) The Holy Father uses the example of a male prostitute ( Prostituierter in the original German ), saying that the use of a condom can be: "a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibi...
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Pope/condoms III - division at the Vatican

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An important background story related to the Holy Father's remarks on AIDS and condoms is that of a longstanding division between Cardinals and Vatican officials on the question. Austen Ivereigh, one of the co-ordinators of Catholic Voices, and now acting on behalf of the Catholic Truth Society in relation to the release of the Pope's interview with Peter Seewald, "Light of the World" to be officially launched tomorrow, has written for America magazine on the background to the Pope's words . He puts forward the argument that it is not condoms themselves that are intrinsically evil but contraception, and that therefore the use of condoms as a prophylactic against HIV/AIDs can be justified. As he rightly points out, this has been an argument proposed for some time by some Catholic moral theologians. (I am not sure that is can be rightly described as the "consensus".) Back in 2004, Austen Ivereigh commissioned Fr Martin Rhonheimer, a priest of Opus Dei (a...
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Pope/condoms II - some Catholic reactions

All over the Catholic blogosphere you will find Catholics defending the Holy Father's remarks regarding condoms and HIV/AIDS. It is rightly pointed out that the Holy Father reiterated his position, stated on the plane on the way to Cameroon, that "we cannot solve the problem by distributing condoms". He also said that "the sheer fixation on the condom implies a banalization of sexuality", that the condom "is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection", and that the Church does not regard the use of condoms as "a real or moral solution" However, he also said that the use of a condom by a male prostitute may be "a first step in the direction of a moralisation" and that in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, there may be "a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality." There have indeed been some silly headlines and interpretations in the media but the...
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Pope/condoms I - Can we disagree?

Certainly we can. In his book "Jesus of Nazareth", Pope Benedict himself spoke clearly on this matter. He said: It goes without saying that this book is in no way an exercise of the magisterium, but is solely an expression of my personal search "for the face of the Lord" (cf. Ps 27:8). Everyone is free, then, to contradict me. I would only ask my readers for that initial goodwill without which there can be no understanding. It is reasonable to assume that the same applies to an interview given to a journalist. Vatican II's Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium (n.25)speaks of a religious submission of mind and will which should be shown to the bishops teaching on matters of faith and morals in communion with the Roman Pontiff and says: This religious submission of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra . This religious submission of mind and will is not required ...
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L'Osservatore's unhelpful leak

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The National Catholic Register carries an important article by Jimmy Akin in response to the leaked bits of Pope Benedict's interview with Peter Seewald "Light of the World". Jimmy Akin comments: The controversy erupted Saturday morning when L’Osservatore Romano unilaterally violated the embargo on the book by publishing Italian-language extracts of various papal statements, much to the chagrin of publishers around the world, who had been working on a carefully orchestrated launch for the book on Tuesday. Here is a link to the full text of the question and answer on condoms and Africa as published by Catholic World Report. Janet Smith has also written a good piece for CWR .
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Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer in London tomorrow

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I just picked up from Facebook the great news that the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer (aka Translapine Redemptorists ") will be in London tomorrow for the traditional confirmations at Spanish Place. One of their postulants is being confirmed and he will be accompanied by Fr Anthony Mary F.SS.R. and some brothers. I'll be there as I have a recently-baptised adult who is being confirmed so it will be great to meet the FSSR guys. After the confirmations, Fr Anthony will say a private Mass at Spanish Place and will then be available to meet people at the Cafe Caldesi, 118 Marylebone Lane, just a couple of minutes' walk from Spanish Place. For details, see the Facebook note or the blogpost by Joseph Shaw, LMS Chairman . And you can get your Papa Stronsay calendar for 2011 via the Translapine Redemptorist blog.
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Analysis of Archbishop Dolan's election

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Not being American I rather hesitated to get involved in comment about the election of Archbishop Dolan as President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. I liked his book "Priests for the Third Millennium" and recommend it to students and young priests. I think I am right in saying that he turned the Pontifical North American College round so that it was on track to become the excellent institution that it is today. Some of my American friends, however, come across decidedly lukewarm, hence my reticence to step in. John Allen has an article that can help us in blighty to understand some of the issues. (See: Three keys to reading the Dolan win at the USCCB ) Allen suggests that first of all, Archbishop Dolan is a good man in terms of PR: the "most gifted natural communicator" of the US Bishops. Mmm Kay. Secondly, although the Archbishop is considered as conservative, he is good at building up relationships. Ho hum. Thirdly, he is likely to be made a...
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How smartphone users see themselves and each other

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Sometimes in the Parish Club there are arguments about the merits and demerits of various smartphones. The graphic above seems to be a fair distribution of insults. (I'm an Android user btw.)
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Baptism water rosary photo

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This photo is doing the rounds at the moment. Here is the accompanying text: This was taken at the baptism of Valentino Mora, son of Erica, a single mom of 21 who asked the photographer to take a picture of her son for free. The photo of the baptism of Valentino Mora is sweeping the Internet, because at the time the priest pours the Holy water over his head, the water flows in the shape of a rosary. This story began at the Parish of the Assumption of Our Lady in Cordova, Spain, where the baptism of a one month baby took place. At the time that Valentino came to the baptismal font for the sacrament of baptism, Erica asked the photographer Maria Silvana Salles, who was hired by other parents baptizing their babies, to take a photo of her son as a favor, since the young mother had no way of paying for it. The photographer, moved by Erica's request, agreed to take a photo of Valentino. Maria Silvana works with a traditional camera and had to send the film to be developed to a shop in ...
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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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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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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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