Post #67

Topics: Pictures: Visiting Monk: Mass at St. Anthony....Douay-Rheims Bible: Online and Searchable....Excerpt: The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A'Kempis....Lent Is Old English for Spring And Other Fascinating Facts:James Akin; Catholic Answers....Vatican Makes New Plea For 'Reform of the Reform': Catholic World News....The Baltimore Catechism: On The Incarnation and Redemption....Sola Scriptura?: By Grace at Spring Whimsy @ Blogspot

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Blogger's Note

Good folks,

It has come to my attention that some of the email/newsletters being generated by this blog are not reaching their intended recipients. This has been in large part due to technical reasons of the third party software/applications that are being used to generate this blog. I have been working diligently to avoid these problems.

It has also come to my attention that some email/newsletters have been reaching readers who have not subscribed, my presumption being that they are forwarded by other recipients. Please note that Venite Missa Est does not make use of mass mailing lists or mail to unsolicited email addresses. FYI: for those who have received this email/newsletter, we are online at http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com/ if you were not aware.

One final housekeeping note: Since St. Anthony is the only local church celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass (EFLR) we are loosely centered around this parish but by no means in any way are we, this blog, an official voice of,or for, St. Anthony or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est is strictly a private layman's endeavor....lest some of you find some content objectionable...don't get your socks in a knot.

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Visiting Monk from Clear Creek Monastery
Pictures of Mass at St. Anthony

Father Bethel, a monk from Clear Creek Monastery in Oklahoma, offered the Latin Mass at St. Anthony's on Sunday, Feb. 22, and celebrated low mass on Saturday, Feb. 21. There are many pictures available for viewing in my public gallery: View all pictures of that mass here. Feel free to download and enjoy. Click on the pictures below for bigger views.

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Douay-Rheims Bible: Online and Searchable
http://drbo.org/

Much to by great suprise I ran across the Douay-Rheims Bible (Latin Vulgate Bible) online at http://drbo.org/. This is a great resource to use from the folks at drbo.org.

The site is fully functional and searchable and includes the 1989 Preface, writings entitled The One True Church, The Church & Her Enemies, Pope Leo's Encyclical and more.

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A.M.D.G et B.V.M.H.

"To many this seemeth a hard saying: 'Deny thyself, take up thy cross, and follow Jesus.' But it will be much harder to that last word; 'Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.' For they who now love to hear and follow the word of the cross shall not then fear the sentence of eternal condemnation. This sign of the cross shall be in heaven when the Lord shall come to judge. Then all servants of the cross, who in their lifetime have conformed themselves to Him that was crucified, shall come to Christ their Judge with great confidence."

(from Book II, Chapter 12 of The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A'Kempis)

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Lent Is Old English for Spring And Other Fascinating Facts
By James Akin
Catholic Answers
http://forums.catholic.com/

Blogger's note: Update, 3-1-09 A much wiser man than I informs me that the following article may not be accurate.

According to the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, "Lent is a preparation for the celebration of Easter. For the Lenten liturgy disposes both catechumens and the faithful to celebrate the paschal mystery: catechumens, through the several stages of Christian initiation; the faithful through reminders of their own baptism and through penitential practices" (General Norms 27).

Is Lent actually forty days long?

Technically, no. According to the General Norms, "Lent runs from Ash Wednesday until the Mass of the Lord's Supper, exclusive" (General Norms 28). This means Lent ends at the beginning of the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. Count it as you will, that's more than forty days. Therefore, the number forty in traditional hymns such as "Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days" is only an approximation.

Are Sundays excluded from Lent?

No. The definition of what days are included in Lent is given above, in General Norms 28. No exception is made for Sundays. Indeed, the General Norms go on to specifically name the Sundays of the period as belonging to the season: "The Sundays of this season are called the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent. The Sixth Sunday, which marks the beginning of Holy Week, is called Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday)" (General Norms 30).
Some people customarily allow themselves on Sunday to have things they have voluntarily given up for Lent, but since these forms of self-denial were voluntarily assumed anyway, a person is not under an obligation to practice them on Sunday (or any other specific day of the week).

Why is the season called Lent?

Lent is the Old English word for spring. In almost all other languages, Lent's name is a derivative of the Latin term quadragesima or "the forty days."

Why is Lent approximately forty days long?

In the Bible, forty days is a traditional number of discipline, devotion, and preparation. Moses stayed on the mountain of God forty days (Ex. 24:18, 34:28). The spies were in the land forty days (Num. 13:25). Elijah traveled forty days before he reached the cave where he had his vision (1 Kgs. 19:8). Nineveh was given forty days to repent (Jonah 3:4). And, most significantly for our Lenten observance, Jesus spent forty days in wilderness praying and fasting prior to undertaking his ministry (Matt. 4:2). Thus it is fitting for Christians to imitate him with a forty-day period of prayer and fasting to prepare to celebrate the climax of Christ's ministry, Good Friday (the day of the crucifixion) and Easter Sunday (the day of the Resurrection).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "'For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning' [Heb. 4:15]. By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert" (CCC 540).

What are fast and abstinence?

Under current canon law in the Western rite of the Church, a day of fast is one on which Catholics who are eighteen to sixty years old are required to keep a limited fast. In this country you may eat a single, normal meal and have two snacks so long as these snacks do not add up to a second meal. Children are not required to fast, but their parents must ensure they are properly educated in the spiritual practice of fasting. A day of abstinence is a day on which Catholics fourteen years and older are required to abstain from eating meat. (Though under the current discipline of the Western rite of the Church, fish, eggs, milk products, and foods made using animal fat are permitted, they are not in the Eastern rites.) Their pastor can easily dispense those with medical conditions from the requirements of fast and/or abstinence.

Is there a biblical basis for abstaining from meat as a sign of repentance?

Yes. The book of Daniel states, "In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia . . . 'I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over'" (Dan. 10:1-3).

Isn't abstaining from meat one of the "doctrines of demons" Paul warned about in 1 Timothy 4:1-5?

When Paul warned of those who "forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods," he had in mind people with the Manichean belief that sex is wrong and certain foods like meat are immoral. (Thus the spiritual ideal for many modern New Agers is a celibate vegetarian, as in the Eastern religions.)

We know that Paul has in mind those who teach sex and certain foods are intrinsically immoral because he tells us that these are "foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer" (1 Tim. 4:3b-5).

Sex and all kinds of food are good things-which is why the Catholic Church has marriage for a sacrament and heartily recommends the practice eating to its members. This is why it is fitting for these things to be given up as part of a spiritual discipline. Thus Daniel gave up meat (as well as wine, another symbol of rejoicing), and Paul endorses the practice of temporary celibacy to engage in a special spiritual discipline of increased prayer (1 Cor. 7:5). By denying ourselves these good things we encourage an attitude of humility, free ourselves from dependence on them, cultivate the spiritual discipline of sacrifice, and remind ourselves of the importance of spiritual goods over earthly goods.

In fact, if there was an important enough purpose, Paul recommended permanently giving up marriage and meat. Thus he himself was celibate (1 Cor. 7:8). He recommended the same for ministers (2 Tim. 2:3-4) and for the unmarried in order to devote themselves more fully to the Lord (1 Cor. 7:32-34), unless doing so would subject them to great temptations (1 Cor. 7:9). Similarly, he recommended giving up meat permanently if it would prevent others from sinning (1 Cor. 8:13).

Since the Catholic Church requires abstinence from meat only on a temporary basis, it clearly does not regard meat is immoral. Instead, it regards it as the giving up of a good thing in order to attain a spiritual goal.

What authority does the Church have to establish days of fast and abstinence?

The authority of Jesus Christ. Jesus told the leaders of his Church, "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matt.16:19, 18:18). The language of binding and loosing was (in part) a rabinnic way of referring to the ability to establish binding halakah or rules of conduct for the faith community. (See the Jewish Encyclopedia: "Binding and loosing (Hebrew, asar ve-hittir) . . . Rabinnical term for 'forbidding and permitting.'")It is especially appropriate that the references to binding and loosing occur in Matthew, the "Jewish Gospel."

The Jewish Encyclopedia continues: "The power of binding and loosing was always claimed by the Pharisees. Under Queen Alexandra, the Pharisees, says Josephus (Wars of the Jews 1:5:2), 'became the administrators of all public affairs so as to be empowered to banish and readmit whom they pleased, as well as to loose and to bind.' . . . The various schools had the power 'to bind and to loose'; that is, to forbid and to permit (Talmud: Chagigah 3b); and they could also bind any day by declaring it a fast day (Talmud: Ta'anit 12a). . . . This power and authority, vested in the rabbinical body of each age of the Sanhedrin, received its ratification and final sanction from the celestial court of justice (Sifra, Emor, 9; Talmud: Makkot 23b).

"In this sense Jesus, when appointing his disciples to be his successors, used the familiar formula (Matt. 16:19, 8:18). By these words he virtually invested them with the same authority as that which he found belonging to the scribes and Pharisees who 'bind heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but will not move them with one of their fingers'; that is 'loose them,' as they have the power to do (Matt. 23:2-4). In the same sense, [in] the second epistle of Clement to James II (Clementine Homilies, Introduction [A.D. 221]) Peter is represented as having appointed Clement as his successor, saying: 'I communicate to him the power of binding and loosing so that, with respect to everything which he shall ordain in the earth, it shall be decreed in the heavens; for he shall bind what ought to be bound and loose what ought to be loosed as knowing the rule of the Church'" (Jewish Encyclopedia 3:215).

Thus Jesus invested the leaders of this Church with the power of making halakah for the Christian community. This includes the setting of fast days (like Ash Wednesday).

To approach the issue from another angle, every family has the authority to establish particular family devotions for its members. If the parents decide that the family will engage in a particular devotion at a particular time (say, Bible reading after supper), it is a sin for the children to disobey and skip the devotion for no good reason. In the same way, the Church as the family of God has the authority to establish its own family devotion, and it is a sin for the members of the Church to disobey and skip the devotions for no good reason. Of course, if the person has a good reason the Church dispenses him.

In addition to Ash Wednesday, are any other days during Lent days of fast or abstinence?

Yes. All Fridays during Lent are days of abstinence. Also, Good Friday, the day on which Christ was crucified, is day of both fast and abstinence.
All days in Lent are appropriate for fasting or abstaining, but canon law does not require it. Such fasting or abstinence is voluntary.

Why are Fridays during Lent days of abstinence?

Because Jesus died for our sins on Friday, making it an especially appropriate day of mourning our sins by denying ourselves something we enjoy. (By the same token, Sunday-the day on which he rose for our salvation-is an especially appropriate day to rejoice.) During the rest of the year Catholics in this country are permitted to use a different act of penance on Friday in place of abstinence, though all Fridays are days of penance on which we are required to do something expressing sorrow for our sins.

Are acts of repentance appropriate on other days during Lent?

Yes. The Code of Canon Law states, "All Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days and time throughout the universal Church" (CIC 1250).

Why are acts of repentance appropriate at this time of year?

Because it is the time leading up to the commemoration of our Lord's death for our sins and the commemoration of his resurrection for our salvation. It is thus especially appropriate to mourn the sins for which he died. Humans have an innate psychological need to mourn tragedies, and our sins are tragedies of the greatest sort.

What are appropriate activities for ordinary days during Lent?

Giving up something we enjoy, engaging in physical or spiritual acts of mercy for others, prayer, fasting, abstinence, going to confession, and other acts expressing repentance in general.

Is the custom of giving up something for Lent mandatory?

No. However, it is a salutary custom, and parents or guardians may choose to require it, since the spiritual training of their children is their prime responsibility.

Why is giving up something for Lent such a salutary custom?

By denying ourselves something we enjoy, we discipline our wills so that we are not slaves to our pleasures. Just as over-indulging in the pleasure of eating leads to physical flabbiness, over-indulging in pleasure in general leads to spiritual flabbiness. When the demands of morality require us to sacrifice something pleasurable (such as sex outside marriage) or endure hardship (such as being scorned for the faith), spiritual flabbiness may well make us fail.

Is the denying of pleasure an end in itself?

No, it is only a means to an end. By training ourselves to resist temptations when they are not sinful we train ourselves to reject temptations when they are sinful. We also express our sorrow over having failed to resist sinful temptations in the past. There are few better ways to keep our priorities straight than by denying ourselves things of lesser priority to show us that they are not necessary and focus our attention on what is necessary.

Can we deny ourselves too many pleasures?

Definitely. God made human life contingent on certain goods, such as food, and to refuse to enjoy enough of them has harmful consequences. For example, if we do not eat enough food we can damage our bodies (and, in the extreme, even die). Just as there is a balance between eating too much food and not eating enough food, there is a balance involved in other goods.

If we deny ourselves too much, it may deprive us of goods God gave us in order that we might praise him or decrease our effectiveness in ministering to others. It can also constitute the sin of ingratitude by refusing to enjoy the things God wanted us to have because he loves us. If a child refused every gift his parent gave him, it would displease the parent; if we refuse gifts God has given us, it displeases God because he loves us and wants us to have them.

Aside from Ash Wednesday, what are the principal events of Lent?

There are a variety of saints' days that fall during Lent, and some of these change from year to year, since the dates of Lent itself change based on when Easter falls. However, the Sundays during the Lenten season commemorate special events in the life of our Lord, such as his Transfiguration and his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, which begins Holy Week. Holy Week climaxes with Holy Thursday, on which Christ celebrated the first Mass; Good Friday, on which he was crucified; and Holy Saturday-the last day of Lent-during which our Lord lay in the tomb before his Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

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James Akin is senior apologist at Catholic Answers and a contributing editor of This Rock. His most recent book, The Salvation Controversy, will be published later this year.

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Catholic World News CWN

Vatican Liturgical Official Makes New Plea For 'Reform of the Reform'
Feb. 23, 2009 (CWNews.com)
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=60291

A key Vatican official has called for "bold and courageous" decisions to address liturgical abuses that have arisen since the reforms of Vatican II.

Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, cites a flawed understanding of Vatican II teachings and the influence of secular ideologies are reasons to conclude that-- as then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said in 1985-- "the true time of Vatican II has not yet come." Particularly in the realm of the liturgy, Archbishop Ranjith says, "The reform has to go on."

Archbishop Ranjith, who was called to the Vatican personally by Pope Benedict to serve as a papal ally in the quest to restore a sense of reverence in the liturgy, makes his comments in the Foreword to a new book based on the diaries and notes of Cardinal Fernando Antonelli, who was a key figure in the liturgical-reform movement both before and after Vatican II.

The writings of Cardinal Antonelli, Archbishop Ranjith says, help the reader "to understand the complex inner workings of the liturgical reform prior to an immediately following the Council." The Vatican official concludes that implementation of the Council's suggested reforms often veered away from the actual intent of the Council fathers. As a result, Archbishop Ranjith concludes, the liturgy today is not a true realization of the vision put forward in the key liturgical document of Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium (doc).

Specifically, Archbishop Ranjith writes:

Some practices which Sacrosanctum Concilium had never even contemplated were allowed into the Liturgy, like Mass versus populum, Holy Communion in the hand, altogether giving up on the Latin and Gregorian Chant in favor of the vernacular and songs and hymns without much space for God, and extension beyond any reasonable limits of the faculty to concelebrate at Holy Mass. There was also the gross misinterpretation of the principle of "active participation."

The Sri Lankan prelate argues that it in order to carry out a "reform of the reform," it is essential to recognize how the liturgical vision of Vatican lI became distorted. He praises the book on Cardinal Antonelli for allowing the reader to gain a better understanding of "which figures or attitudes caused the present situation." This, the archbishop says, is an inquiry "which, in the name of truth, we cannot abandon."

While acknowledging "the turbulent mood of the years that immediately followed the Council," Archbishop Ranjith reminds readers that in summoning the world's bishops to an ecumenical council, Blessed John XXIII intended "a fortification of the faith." The Council, in the eyes of Pope John, was "certainly not a call to go along with the spirit of the times."

However, he continues, the Council took place at a time of great worldwide intellectual turmoil, and in its aftermath especially, many would-be interpreters saw the event as a break from the prior traditions of the Church. As Archbishop Ranjith puts it:

Basic concepts and themes like Sacrifice and Redemption, Mission, Proclamation and Conversion, Adoration as an integral element of Communion, and the need of the Church for salvation--all were sidelined, while Dialogue, Inculturation, Ecumenism, Eucharist-as-Banquet, Evangelization-as-Witness, etc., became more important. Absolute values were disdained.

Even in the work of the Consilium, the Vatican agency assigned to implement liturgical changes, these influences were clearly felt, the archbishop notes:

An exaggerated sense of antiquarianism, anthopologism, confusion of roles between the ordained and the non-ordained, a limitless provision of space for experimentation-- and indeed, the tendency to look down upon some aspects of the development of the Liturgy in the second millennium-- were increasingly visible among certain liturgical schools.

Today, Archbishop Ranjith writes, the Church can look back and recognize the influences that distorted the original intent of the Council. That recognition, he says, should "help us to be courageous in improving or changing that which was erroneously introduced and which appears to be incompatible with the true dignity of the Liturgy." A much-needed "reform of the reform," he argues, should be inspired by "not merely a desire to correct past mistakes but much more the need to be true to what the Liturgy in fact is and means to us and what the Council itself defined it to be."

Archbishop Ranjith's 10-page Foreword appears in the English-language edition of a book entitled True Development of the Liturgy is written by Msgr. Nicola Giampietro, who serves on the staff of the Congregation for Divine Worship. It will be available in September from Roman Catholic Books.

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The Baltimore Catechism
Lesson Sixth: On The Incarnation and Redemption

60. Q. Did God abandon man after he fell into sin?
A. God did not abandon man after he fell into sin, but promised him a Redeemer, who was to
satisfy for man's sin and reopen to him the gates of heaven.
61. Q. Who is the Redeemer?
A. Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of mankind.

62. Q. What do you believe of Jesus Christ?
A. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, true
God and true man.
69. Q. What do you mean by the Incarnation?
A. By the Incarnation I mean that the Son of God was made man.

70. Q. How was the Son of God made man?
A. The Son of God was conceived and made man by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb
of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

74. Q. On what day was the Son of God conceived and made man?
A. The Son of God was conceived and made man on Annunciation day-the day on which the
angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she was to be the Mother of God.

75. Q. On what day was Christ born?
A. Christ was born on Christmas day in a stable at Bethlehem, over nineteen hundred years ago

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Sola Scriptura?
By Grace at Spring Whimsy
http://springwhimsy.blogspot.com/2009/02/sola-scriptura.html

Venite Missa Est! note: This young lady's blog popped up in my email (you can set up Google alerts to send emails to you about any given subject that shows up on the web, I have it set for "Traditional Latin Mass"). I post this not as official Church doctrine or as an aplogists source of information but because this young lady, at fifteen (from her profile) seems so focused and bright and her writing made a good read. That being said, accuracy of information is not verified by Ventie Missa Est.

“Sola Scriptura” as reverent as it may sound, is not even biblical. Martin Luther began “Sola Scriptura” saying a visible church and clergy were not necessary but through faith and the Bible alone one can be saved. This appealed to many people, of course, since this basically removed the responsibility one has and the sacrifice one owes to God, especially through the sacrifice of the Mass, which Luther and many other Protestant leaders denied.
In some passages it references that “only in faith...” yes, but the Protestants take it to a different level as in literally FAITH ALONE without works, without sacrifices. History is necessary to learn as a companion to studying the Bible. Back then, when the evangelists had written for the salvation of man to be by faith itself, he was correcting how the common thought of the salvation (or 'measure') of a man is by his riches. Throughout the Bible, you will see all of the evangelists mention our need to not only have faith, but practice it by sacrifice, penance, good works...etc.
The reason for Sola Scriptura’s not being biblical is because Martin Luther had said that one can take what he pleases out of the bible that does not suit his own liking, yet can put in or replace what he thinks suits. I was conversing with a “Sola Scriptura” Protestant earlier and they said to me: “That’s what I say it means, I’d like to know your opinion on the passage.” Here’s an example they argued with me:
John 3 :3 Jesus answered, and said to him: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
They did not believe baptism with water and the spirit was necessary but just a “symbol”. Protestants take this literally, being born again, and then take it that when you have faith you may be born again in Christ or “free from sin”. But thus, one can not call themselves a follower of Christ, if they do not follow His teachings, but of “Sola Scriptura”.
Replying to them, I gave them this verse:
John 3:5 Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
“Born again” newborns go through baptism to be cleansed of Original Sin which we all have inherited from Adam and Eve (Genesis 3). John the Baptist was baptizing people obviously in the river of water and blessed them. By ‘born again’ we are entering into a ‘new life in Christ’ after baptism. But thus, in the passage before this one, it says that one can not “see” the Kingdom of Heaven without being ‘born again’ and then it says below that one can not “enter” into the kingdom without ‘being born of the water and of the spirit’.
I am giving you this above argument because it shows how the Protestants with “Sola Scriptura” take the bible literally and as Martin Luther said, basically ignore or take out what they do not like. This in Martin Luther’s false doctrine is so very wide-spread. But one can not make his own doctrines!
1 Cor. 3:11 For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus.
The foundation is Christ and his doctrine: or the true faith in him, working through charity.
Ephesians 2:20 Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone:21 In whom all the building, being framed together, groweth up into an holy temple in the Lord. 22 In whom you also are built together into an habitation of God in the Spirit.
This is truthfully stating that a visible church is indeed necessary, but One Church, the Catholic Church which has been since Jesus came as the New Covenant.

1 Peter 2:5 Be you also as living stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.6 Wherefore it is said in the scripture: Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious. And he that shall believe in him, shall not be confounded.

This is the calling again of a visible church, a holy priesthood to “offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus”! So thus, indeed a visible Church is necessary and a holy priesthood. “Chief corner stone” whereas Peter interpreted is that stone, or he is also known as “Cephus” with a capital C which is “the Rock” which Jesus thus then named him “the Rock” to be head of Christ’s visible church. Thus, God is always head of the Church but both visible and invisible. Peter was made the first Pope therefore “all that shall believe in him, shall not be confounded.”
Matthew 16:18 And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Jesus told us to teach all nations, and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost (Matt. 28: 19) to teach Christ’s religion (Matt. 28: 20) to offer the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ (John 22:19) to loose and bind (Matt. 18:18) to forgive sins (John 20:23) to exercise Christ’s own authority (John 20:21).
Therefore concluding that “Sola Scriptura” does not rely on the Word of God nor is it even biblical.

Post #66

Topics: Pope Saint Pius X: Don’t Pray at Holy Mass, But Pray the Holy Mass...Clear Creek Monastery Monk: Fr. Bethel Will Say Mass at St. Anthony....Blast from the Past: Old Pic, Blessed Virgin....The Chapel Veil Campaign: from The Catholic Knight....Will You Perceive the Event that Kills You?: Fascinating Neuroscience....Byzantine Catholic Prayer and Daily Scripture Readings: Online MP3s and PodCast....The Baltimore Catechism:On the Angels and Our First Parents....Book Review by Eighth Day Books: Supremacy and Survival by Stepahine Mann

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Pope Saint Pius X
Don’t Pray at Holy Mass, But Pray the Holy Mass

“The Holy Mass is a prayer itself, even the highest prayer that exists. It is the Sacrifice dedicated by our Redeemer at the Cross, and repeated every day on the Altar. If you wish to hear Mass as it should be heard, you must follow with eye, heart and mouth all that happens at the Altar. Further, you must pray with the Priest the holy words said by him in the Name of Christ and which Christ says by him. You have to associate your heart with the holy feelings which are contained in these words and in this manner you ought to follow all that happens on the Altar. When acting in this way you have prayed Holy Mass.” “Don’t pray at Holy Mass, but pray the Holy Mass.” - His Holiness, Pope Saint Pius X

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Father Francis Bethel to Visit Wichita

Clear Creek Monastery Monk Will Say Mass at St. Anthony

Father Francis Bethel, OSB, a monk at Clear Creek Monastery in Hulbert, Oklahoma., and the brother of St. Anthony's parishioner Larry Bethel, will be in Wichita the weekend of Feb. 21 and 22 to speak at the Pre-Lenten Conference at the Church of the Magdalen.

Father Bethel will offer the Latin Mass here at St. Anthony's on Sunday, Feb. 22, and will be available after Mass to visit with parishioners and answer questions. He'll also offer a Latin Mass at St. Anthony's on Saturday, Feb. 21, also at 8 a.m.For more information about the Conference call Alan at 320-1360.

Please welcome Father Bethel to Wichita and St. Anthony by attending mass both Saturday and Sunday. Please invite family and friends....now really, how often do you get to meet a monk?!

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Blast from the Past
Picture of the Blessed Virgin

I love old Catholic pictures and such. You know the kind...the ones that hung in your grandmother's house, the crucifix that watched over your entire childhood, the tattered holy card your father carried in his wallet.

Diana DiAmoto sent this lovely image of the Blessed Virgin. She writes:

"I think this belonged to my sister, Marie, probably from the 40's maybe 50's, but not sure. There is a hole in back so we probably had it on wall in our bedroom. The picture is on wood, 2" by 3" in size. "

I would love to post any old pictures of communions, baptisms, churches, holy cards...anything really that speaks to our rich Catholic culture and heritage. Email (just about anything) to bumpy187@gmail.com and I will post it!

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The Chapel Veil Campaign
from The Catholic Knight
http://catholicknight.blogspot.com/2007/12/chapel-veil-campaign.html

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Starting in 2010, the U.S. Catholic Church is to begin its long awaited, and much anticipated, liturgical reforms of the English mass. The new translation, demanded by the Vatican, will reflect a much more accurate rendering of the official Latin version of the Novus Ordo liturgy issued by Rome nearly 40 years ago. (You can download a PDF of the new English mass HERE.) This marks a major shift in the American Church toward a more traditional and orthodox approach to the liturgy. You can read more about the coming changes here.

Some women have expressed to 'The Catholic Knight' a desire to return to the time honored custom of wearing the chapel veil during mass, and see the coming liturgical changes as a perfect opportunity to do this. Returning to this tradition will serve to further reinforce the message that the Catholic Church is the same today as it was yesterday, and the time honored customs of the Church have not died out, but on the contrary, live and breath through a new generation of Catholic women.

Sacred Scripture presents several reasons for wearing the chapel veil. St. Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians (11:1-16) that Christian women must cover their heads because it is a Sacred Tradition commanded by our Lord Himself and entrusted to Paul: "The things I am writing to you are the Lord's commandments" (1 Cor. 14:37). "That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels" wrote St. Paul (1 Cor. 11:10). The invisible hierarchy should be respected because the angels are present at all Christian assemblies during worship, offering the Holy Sacrifice with us according to the honor due to God. St. John the Apostle wrote: "And another angel came and stood before the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense that he might offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which is before the throne." (Rev. 8:3, see also Matt. 18:10). They are offended by a lack of reverence at mass. The women of Corinth, beset by modern sensibilities, started coming to church without their heads covered. When St. Paul heard of their neglect, he wrote and urged them to keep the veil.

According to St. Jerome's commentary Bible, he finally settled the matter by saying the head covering was a custom of the primitive communities of Judea, "the Churches of God" (1 Thess. 2-14, 2 Thess. 1-4) which had received this Tradition from early times (2 Thess., 2:15, 3:6). The “veil” represented modesty in many religions and cultures, especially in Judaism which was the cradle of the early Christian Church. A veil or head covering, is both a symbol and a mystical sacrifice that invites the woman wearing it to ascend the ladder of sanctity.

When a woman covers her head in the Catholic Church it symbolizes her dignity and humility before God. It should not surprise us why so many modern women have so easily abandoned the tradition of the chapel veil (head covering) when the greatest meaning of the veil is modesty. It is purely an anti-Catholic culture that frowns on modesty. Do not be deceived, it was Secular feminism (a militantly anti-Catholic movement), that shunned Catholic women for wearing the chapel veil, telling them that a male dominated Church seeks to repress them. Such lunacy was nothing more than a lie straight from hell. If it were true, women would have been instructed to veil in the presence of men, but that is not the case at all.

Both Sacred Scripture and previous canon law instructed women to veil in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament (not men), and particularly during the public prayer of the holy mass. The veil is a sign of modesty before our Eucharistic Lord. It is NOT a sign of male dominance. You can learn more about the custom of the chapel veil and what it means here.

'The Chapel Veil Campaign' is accompanied by a survey poll which can be viewed at the top of this blog. 'The Catholic Knight' requests that all you Catholic ladies out there review this material and prayerfully consider it. Then cast your vote in the accompanying poll to express your support for The Chapel Veil Campaign. Your vote of support will help other Catholic women muster the courage to do the same. The idea is to encourage young Catholic women all over the English-speaking world to put away the rebellion of the 1970s "hippy" generation, and start wearing the chapel veil again.

In the United States, the new English translation of the liturgy is currently scheduled to go into effect in 2010. That's because the US Catholic bishops no longer have permission from the Vatican to celebrate the "defective" English translation of the Novus Ordo mass we've been using since the 1970s. Since permission to celebrate it has been revoked, the US Catholic bishops will be unable to delay the transition anymore.

The return of the chapel veil, along with the liturgical renewal in the English translation of the mass, will send a clear and definite signal to the world that English-speaking Catholics have not lost the time-honored traditions of our sacred Catholic faith.

Please pass this message on by sending a Chapel Veil Campaign link to friends and family...
http://catholicknight.blogspot.com/2007/12/chapel-veil-campaign.html



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Will You Perceive the Event that Kills You?
From Sentient Developments
By David Eagleman
http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2009/02/will-you-perceive-event-that-kills-you.html

Venite Missa Est! note: This article is not Catholic in nature but I found it fascinating in that, one kind find the majesty and grace of God everywhere we look. I was speaking to a friend who works for a local coroner's department about a motorcycle/car collision that killed a young man. The attending doctor had said that death, in this case, was instantaneous. In other words, the man didn't "feel a thing" even though it was he who ran into the side of the other vehicle. We can marvel of the science and the biology but also stand in awe of God's grace, design and as author of all science.

When light strikes your eyes, it takes some hundreds of milliseconds before you become conscious of the event. As a consequence, you are always living in the past. This strange fact of our existence is well known is neuroscience, but there’s an interesting, under appreciated consequence: you may not ever become aware of the thing that kills you.

Cormac McCarthy addresses this point in his post-apocalyptic novel The Road, in a scene in which the main character has his pistol leveled on a miscreant. The malefactor challenges: “you won't shoot....they [my companions] will hear the shot.”

The protagonist replies, “Yes they will. But you won’t.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Because the bullet travels faster than sound. It will be in your brain before you can hear it. To hear it you will need a frontal lobe and things with names like colliculus and temporal gyrus and you won't have them anymore. They’ll just be soup.”

One way to appreciate the slowness of your perception is to compare it to the speed of mechanical devices. Take this incredible, sobering "anatomy of a crash," as described in an Australian magazine and echoed on Tom Vanderbilt’s blog. With fine-grained temporal resolution, it analyzes what happens when a stationary Ford Falcon XT sedan is struck in the driver’s door by another vehicle traveling at 50 kilometers per hour:

0 milliseconds - An external object touches the driver’s door.
1 ms - The car’s door pressure sensor detects a pressure wave.
2 ms - An acceleration sensor in the C-pillar behind the rear door also detects a crash event.
2.5 ms - A sensor in the car’s centre detects crash vibrations.
5 ms - Car’s crash computer checks for insignificant crash events, such as a shopping trolley impact or incidental contact. It is still working out the severity of the crash. Door intrusion structure begins to absorb energy.
6.5 ms - Door pressure sensor registers peak pressures.
7 ms - Crash computer confirms a serious crash and calculates its actions.
8 ms - Computer sends a “fire” signal to side airbag. Meanwhile, B-pillar begins to crumple inwards and energy begins to transfer into cross-car load path beneath the occupant.
8.5 ms - Side airbag system fires.
15 ms - Roof begins to absorb part of the impact. Airbag bursts through seat foam and begins to fill.
17 ms - Cross-car load path and structure under rear seat reach maximum load.
Airbag covers occupant’s chest and begins to push the shoulder away from impact zone.
20 ms - Door and B-pillar begin to push on front seat. Airbag begins to push occupant’s chest away from the impact.
27 ms - Impact velocity has halved from 50 km/h to 23.5 km/h. A “pusher block” in the seat moves occupant’s pelvis away from impact zone. Airbag starts controlled deflation.
30 ms - The Falcon has absorbed all crash energy. Airbag remains in place. For a brief moment, occupant experiences maximum force equal to 12 times the force of gravity.
45 ms - Occupant and airbag move together with deforming side structure.
50 ms - Crash computer unlocks car’s doors. Passenger safety cell begins to rebound, pushing doors away from occupant.
70 ms - Airbag continues to deflate. Occupant moves back towards middle of car.
Engineers classify crash as “complete”.
150-300 ms - Occupant becomes aware of collision.

The last line is the zinger. Early studies by Benjamin Libet suggest that the last line should perhaps read as high as 500 ms, although others, such as Daniel Dennett, have correctly pointed out that it is impossible to measure the moment of onset of conscious experience, so the exact timing will never be known.

Just as the explorer David Livingstone appreciated the biological kindness of stress-induced analgesia, there may an equivalent kindness in the slowness of perception.

David Eagleman is a neuroscientist and a writer. His book of literary fiction, Sum, debuted internationally this month.

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Byzantine Catholic Prayer and Daily Scripture Readings
Online MP3s and PodCast
http://stlukesbyzantine.blogspot.com/

Here is a wondeful blog of St. Luke's Byzantine Catholic Church, 11411 Chicago St., Sugar Creek, MO. Available are chanted scripture and prayer in MP3 file and podcast available for free download.

Divine Liturgy is Sundays @ 9:30 a.m. There is also a vigil liturgy at 6:00 p.m. in Lawrence KS. at their mission, located at 1631 Crescent Road, Lawrence, KS.

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The Baltimore Catechism
Lesson Fourth: On the Angels and Our First Parents

34. Q. Which are the chief creatures of God?
A. The chief creatures of God are men and angels.

35. Q. What are angels?
A. Angels are bodiless spirits created to adore and enjoy God in heaven.

39. Q. Who were the first man and woman?
A. The first man and woman were Adam and Eve.

40. Q. Were Adam and Eve innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God?
A. Adam and Eve were innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God.

43. Q. Did Adam and Eve remain faithful to God? A. Adam and Eve did not remain faithful to God; but broke His command by eating the forbidden fruit.
44. Q. What befell Adam and Eve on account of their sin?
A. Adam and Eve on account of their sin lost innocence and holiness, and were doomed to misery and death.

45. Q. What evil befell us through the disobedience of our first parents?
A. Through the disobedience of our first parents we all inherit their sin and punishment, as we should have shared in their happiness if they had remained faithful.

47. Q. What is the sin called which we inherit from our first parents?
A. The sin which we inherit from our first parents is called original sin.

50. Q. Was any one ever preserved from original sin?
A. The Blessed Virgin Mary, through the merit of her Divine Son, was preserved free from the guilt of original sin, and this privilege is called her Immaculate Conception.

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Book Review by Eighth Day Books
Supremacy and Survival: How Catholics Endured the English Reformation
by Stephanie Mann

Stephanie Mann and her husband Mark, are frequent participants here at St Anthony's traditional Latin Mass. She is also an author of an enjoyable and important book, Supremacy and Survival, subtitled How Catholics endured the English Reformation.
Here is the review of the book from 8th Day Books, where the book can be bought, www.eighthdaybooks.com.

We present here a remarkable synthesis. At once a devout Catholic writing primarily but not exclusively for Catholics, a writer of limpid prose, and a skilled chronicler, Stephanie Mann shows how to write accurate and trustworthy history while unabashedly staking a claim about wrongs and rights and final judgment on matters. Her territory is the English Reformation and the subsequent fortunes of Catholics in England up through the twentieth century. It’s a cavalcade of momentous persons and periods and movements, never losing its connecting thread of conflict between Church and State, and whether public order ever trumps freedom of faith and conscience. Find in this book vivid accounts of Henry VIII and the wives (three Catherines, two Anne’s, and one Jane). There are lucid accounts of the reigns of Mary and her half-sister Elizabeth I, James VI, and Charles I. The English Civil War, the Puritans and Cromwell, and the Restoration are given due attention. But Mann isn’t writing mere political history. She is at her best when describing the interfacing cultural and religious climates: the lukewarmness—dangerous to all sides—of the eighteenth century, the Oxford movement and conversion of Newman in the nineteenth, and the influence of literary and intellectual figures such as Chesterton, Benson, and Anscombe in the twentieth. With its extensive glossary of persons and terms, timeline of events, study questions and bibliography, Supremacy and Survival is a marvelous resource for teachers. But it is also a book for common readers, forcing the question to all of what kind of faith creates a willingness—sometimes even joyful willingness—to accept hanging, drawing and quartering and other hideous tortures, for its sake.

Price: $16.95

Post #65

Topics: Book Review by James Spencer: Breviarium Romanum Distributed by The Fraternity of St. Peter....Just Some Fun: Atheist Bus Picture, Good One Liners....Prayer Request: For Evelyn C. Kraus Freund and Surviving Family....The Baltimore Catechism: On Indulgences....Video: First Pontifical High Mass at the Shrine of Christ The King, Chicago IL.

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Book Review by James Spencer

Breviarium Romanum (ex Decreto SS. Concilii Tridentini Restitutum, Summorum Pontificum Cura Recognitum, cum Textu Psalmorum e Vulgate Bibliorum Editione), printed in 2008 by Nova & Vetera, Germany; website www.novaetvetera.de. Two volumes, Latin only; 7X4.5”; leather-bound, gold embossed pages, six marker ribbons. Volume I has 1,725 pages; volume II has 1,484 pages. Distributed by Fraternity Publications, Griffin Road, P.O. Box 196, Elmhurst, PA 18416; (570) 842-4000, ext. 401 or 402; website www.fraternitypublications.com; e-mail publications@fssp.com. Price: $298.


The Fraternity of St. Peter has brought out a new EF Breviary to replace their previous out-of-print version. The improvement is so great that it inspires outrageous hyperboles, such as: Comparing this new Breviary to the old one is like comparing a 2009 Mazarati to a 1929 Model A Roadster, like comparing dinner at Antoine’s to lunch at MacDonald’s, like comparing a penthouse to a tenement, like comparing a . . . I could go on, but you surely get the idea by now.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said that comparisons are odious, and I usually agree, but this case demands that I make an exception. The previous Breviary is out of print and unavailable, so an uncomplimentary comparison hurts no one. It was published rather quickly in 1995 to satisfy a serious need within the Fraternity of St. Peter for a 1962 Breviary. It was copied rather than type-set and, although generally clear, it has a few blurred letters scattered about. And it has 176 errors (69 in Volume I, 107 in Volume II), most small, but a few rather significant. (These have been listed in the FSSP Ordo so Breviary users could correct them.) Then, too, each volume is huge: Volume I has 1,870 pages and is two inches thick; volume II has 1,620 pages and is 1.7 inches thick. As you probably know, the Breviary has long been called a priest’s “wife,” because he takes it with him wherever he goes. In this case, clearly, the lady needed to shed a few pounds and inches.

Well, she has. The new Breviary is slim and sleek. Volume I, which contains the Offices from the first Sunday of Advent through the first Vespers for the Sunday after Pentecost, has 1,725 pages and is only 1.3 inches thick. Volume II, which contains the Offices from the first Sunday after Pentecost through 24th Sunday after Pentecost, has 1,480 pages and is only 1.1 inches thick. How did she shed this bulk? First, she relies somewhat more on referencing and less on reprinting repetitively-used parts. Second, she has slightly smaller print. However, since it is type-set rather than copied, it is much clearer and more pleasant to read.

[Nota bene: Whether by chance or design, each volume of this slimmed-down Breviary is the about same size as the Angelus Press hand-held 1962 Daily Roman Missal. Thus each volume fits nicely into the zippered vinyl slipcover made for that missal. This slipcover provides 24/7 protection, because the Breviary need never be removed from the slipcover. To say the Office, one simply unzips the slipcover, reads from the Breviary without removing the slipcover, and then zips it up again. This protects the Breviary cover from all sorts of abuse, and especially from the damage skin-oil from the user’s hands can inflict. These slipcovers, which come in black, dark blue, or burgundy, cost $19.95 each and are available from Angelus Press: website www.angeluspress.org; 1 (800) 966-7337. By spending $19.95, you can preserve the covers of a $298 Breviary.]

This new Breviary has also cleaned up her act, so to speak, in that she isn’t replete with errors. In my consciously nit-picky large-sample search for the above mentioned 176 errors, I found only one in this new Breviary. If she has any errors, at least they’re new ones!

Like most Breviaries, this new one has a set of cards for certain parts of the Office that are repeated every day – Psalm 94 (Matins), Absolutiones and Benedictiones (Matins), Te Deum (Matins), Canticum Zachariae (Lauds), Magnificat (Vespers), and Antiphona Finalis Beatae Mariae Virginis (Compline). However this Breviary has two sets of these cards, a set for each volume, containing the Volume-appropriate final Marian Antiphones for Compline. The cards for Volume I contains Alma Redemptoris Mater, Ave Regina Caelorum, and Regina Caeli Laetare. The cards for Volume II contains only Salve Regina. Each set includes two special cards. One contains the Psalms for Sunday Lauds, which are often used on special 2nd and 3rd Class Feasts regardless of the day on which they fall, and certain prayers said during the Octave of Easter. The other contains the O Antiphones said from December 17 to 23 and antiphones said during the Octave of Easter.

The new Breviary also comes with a small instructional pamphlet with a long title: “Pocket Guide for the Recitation of the Divine Office According to the 1962 Edition of the Breviarium Romanum.” The 21 pages in this pamphlet contain much useful information, especially for beginners.

Who should have this Breviary? Obviously, any priest, religious, or layman who says the EF Divine Office in Latin would benefit from it – provided that he uses the Vulgate Psalter. If he uses the Pius XII Psalter, he would be uncomfortable with some of the translations into Latin in this Breviary. If you or your EF Community would like to buy a copy for any priest who says the Divine Office in Latin, first check to be sure that he uses the Vulgate Psalter.

Your EF Community also should consider chipping in to buy one of these Breviaries for a seminarian at one of the EF seminaries where the Vulgate Psalter is used. These Breviaries are so expensive that many seminarians simply cannot afford them. Such a gift from your EF Community would be most sincerely appreciated.

If you buy one, whether for yourself, your priest, or a seminarian, you should also buy one or two zippered slipcovers for it from Angelus Press (see above). Anyone can get by with just one slipcover by always keeping it on whichever volume he is currently using. However, a separate slipcover for each of the two volumes is more convenient, and, hey, they cost only $19.95 apiece. An extra $39.90 isn’t much of an addition to the $298 financial/spiritual investment you’re making in the Breviary itself. So why not spring for a pair of these slipcovers?

END
Copyright, 2009, by James B. Spencer. First Serial Rights


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Just Some Fun
You Won't Believe What I Saw On the Side of a Bus

Ah the sweet smell of tables turned.

There is an organization in the U.K. that has been running placards on the sides of London buses promoting atheism. They've even provided an online tool to generate your own atheist messages onto one of their bus photos.

Humorously enough, Christians everywhere are indeed doing just that....with a change of message.

Photo credit: Jon Worth c/o atheistbus.org.uk

More: Just Some Fun
Good One Liners

1. Be fishers of men….You catch ‘em, He’ll clean them.
2. A family altar can alter a family - Give God what’s right, not what’s left.
3. A lot of kneeling will keep one in good standing.
4. Don’t out a question mark where God put a period.
5. Don’t wait for 6 strong men to take you to church.
6. Give Satan an inch and he’ll be a ruler –
7. Having truth decay? Brush up on your Bible!
8. God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called.
9. He who can stand before God can stand before anyone.
10. Most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory capacity.
11. Plan ahead – it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.
12. Prayer – don’t give God instructions – just report for duty!
13. This church is “prayer conditioned.” - We’re too blessed to be depressed.
14. Wisdom has 2 parts: 1) having a lot to say. 2) Not saying it.
15. Some people are kind, polite and sweet-spirited, until you try to sit in their pews.
16. Some minds are like concrete, thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.
17. It is easier to preach ten sermons than to live one.
18. People are funny – they want the front of the bus, the middle of the road and the back of the church.
19. Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your door forever.
20. If the church wants a better preacher or priest, it only needs to pray for the one it has.
21. The phrase that is guaranteed to wake up an audience is “And in conclusion…..”

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Prayer Request
Evelyn C. Kraus Freund, Requiescant in Pace

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Evelyn C. Kraus Freund of Colwich, died Feb. 10, 2009. Mrs. Freund is the Mother of Dan Freund who attends and serves at St. Anthony Traditional Latin Mass (EFLR).

The funeral mass was Friday, February 13th at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Colwich. The mass was beautiful and the toll bell was rung.

Please also pray for our friend Dan and his family as they journey through this most difficult time.

Survivors: husband, Edwin; sons, Dan (Becky) of Canton, Tim (Diana) of Mt. Hope; daughters, Carol Venegas of Wichita, Pat (Mark) Gilbert of Colwich; 10 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren (2 on the way). Memorials: Mt. Hope Nursing Center and Hospice of Kansas, 125 W. 2nd, Ste. C, Hutchinson, KS.

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The Baltimore Cathechism
Lesson Twenty First: On Indulgences

231. Q. What is an Indulgence?
A. An Indulgence is the remission in whole or in part of the temporal punishment due to sin.

232. Q. Is an Indulgence a pardon of sin, or a license to commit sin?
A. An Indulgence is not a pardon of sin, nor a license to commit sin, and one who is in a state of mortal sin cannot gain an Indulgence.

233. Q. How many kinds of Indulgences are there?
A. There are two kinds of Indulgences-Plenary and Partial.

234. Q. What is a Plenary Indulgence?
A. A Plenary Indulgence is the full remission of the temporal punishment due to sin.

235. Q. What is a Partial Indulgence?
A. A Partial Indulgence is the remission of a part of the temporal punishment due to sin.

236. Q. How does the Church by means of Indulgences remit the temporal punishment due to sin?
A. The Church by means of Indulgences remits the temporal punishment due to sin by applying to us the merits of Jesus Christ, and the superabundant satisfactions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the saints; which merits and satisfactions are its spiritual treasury.

237. Q. What must we do to gain an Indulgence?
A. To gain an Indulgence we must be in the state of grace and perform the works enjoined.

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Video
Institute of Christ the King
First Pontifical High Mass at the Shrine of Christ The King, Chicago IL.
The New Liturgical Movement
http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/

The Institute of Christ the King in the United States reports the First Pontifical High Mass at the Shrine in Chicago, celebrated by His Excellency, the Most Reverend Joseph N. Perry, auxiliary bishop in Chicago, this past January 11th.

The chant and polyphony were very well done, being performed by "participants of the Gregorian Chant Workshop for the Serious Students." They sang Victoria's Missa Magnum Mysterium.

Post#64

Topics: His Holiness, Benedict XVI: Lenten Message for 2009....Father Francis Bethel to Visit Wichita: Clear Creek Monastery Monk Will Say Mass at St. Anthony....Book Review by Jim Spencer: The General Principles of Ceremonies of the Roman Rite for Inferior Ministers....The Baltimore Catechism: On Prayer

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Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI
for Lent 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

At the beginning of Lent, which constitutes an itinerary of more intense spiritual training, the Liturgy sets before us again three penitential practices that are very dear to the biblical and Christian tradition - prayer, almsgiving, fasting - to prepare us to better celebrate Easter and thus experience God's power that, as we shall hear in the Paschal Vigil, "dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy, casts out hatred, brings us peace and humbles earthly pride" (Paschal Præconium). For this year's Lenten Message, I wish to focus my reflections especially on the value and meaning of fasting. Indeed, Lent recalls the forty days of our Lord's fasting in the desert, which He undertook before entering into His public ministry. We read in the Gospel: "Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry" (Mt 4,1-2). Like Moses, who fasted before receiving the tablets of the Law (cf. Ex 34,28) and Elijah's fast before meeting the Lord on Mount Horeb (cf. 1 Kings 19,8), Jesus, too, through prayer and fasting, prepared Himself for the mission that lay before Him, marked at the start by a serious battle with the tempter.

We might wonder what value and meaning there is for us Christians in depriving ourselves of something that in itself is good and useful for our bodily sustenance. The Sacred Scriptures and the entire Christian tradition teach that fasting is a great help to avoid sin and all that leads to it. For this reason, the history of salvation is replete with occasions that invite fasting. In the very first pages of Sacred Scripture, the Lord commands man to abstain from partaking of the prohibited fruit: "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die" (Gn 2, 16-17). Commenting on the divine injunction, Saint Basil observes that "fasting was ordained in Paradise," and "the first commandment in this sense was delivered to Adam." He thus concludes: " 'You shall not eat' is a law of fasting and abstinence" (cf. Sermo de jejunio: PG 31, 163, 98). Since all of us are weighed down by sin and its consequences, fasting is proposed to us as an instrument to restore friendship with God. Such was the case with Ezra, who, in preparation for the journey from exile back to the Promised Land, calls upon the assembled people to fast so that "we might humble ourselves before our God" (8,21). The Almighty heard their prayer and assured them of His favor and protection. In the same way, the people of Nineveh, responding to Jonah's call to repentance, proclaimed a fast, as a sign of their sincerity, saying: "Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish not?" (3,9). In this instance, too, God saw their works and spared them.

In the New Testament, Jesus brings to light the profound motive for fasting, condemning the attitude of the Pharisees, who scrupulously observed the prescriptions of the law, but whose hearts were far from God. True fasting, as the divine Master repeats elsewhere, is rather to do the will of the Heavenly Father, who "sees in secret, and will reward you" (Mt 6,18). He Himself sets the example, answering Satan, at the end of the forty days spent in the desert that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Mt 4,4). The true fast is thus directed to eating the "true food," which is to do the Father's will (cf. Jn 4,34). If, therefore, Adam disobeyed the Lord's command "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat," the believer, through fasting, intends to submit himself humbly to God, trusting in His goodness and mercy. The practice of fasting is very present in the first Christian community (cf. Acts 13,3; 14,22; 27,21; 2 Cor 6,5). The Church Fathers, too, speak of the force of fasting to bridle sin, especially the lusts of the "old Adam," and open in the heart of the believer a path to God. Moreover, fasting is a practice that is encountered frequently and recommended by the saints of every age. Saint Peter Chrysologus writes: "Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God's ear to yourself" (Sermo 43: PL 52, 320. 322).
In our own day, fasting seems to have lost something of its spiritual meaning, and has taken on, in a culture characterized by the search for material well-being, a therapeutic value for the care of one's body. Fasting certainly bring benefits to physical well-being, but for believers, it is, in the first place, a "therapy" to heal all that prevents them from conformity to the will of God.
In the Apostolic Constitution Pænitemini of 1966, the Servant of God Paul VI saw the need to present fasting within the call of every Christian to "no longer live for himself, but for Him who loves him and gave himself for him ... he will also have to live for his brethren" (cf. Ch. I). Lent could be a propitious time to present again the norms contained in the Apostolic Constitution, so that the authentic and perennial significance of this long held practice may be rediscovered, and thus assist us to mortify our egoism and open our heart to love of God and neighbor, the first and greatest Commandment of the new Law and compendium of the entire Gospel (cf. Mt 22, 34-40).

The faithful practice of fasting contributes, moreover, to conferring unity to the whole person, body and soul, helping to avoid sin and grow in intimacy with the Lord. Saint Augustine, who knew all too well his own negative impulses, defining them as "twisted and tangled knottiness" (Confessions, II, 10.18), writes: "I will certainly impose privation, but it is so that he will forgive me, to be pleasing in his eyes, that I may enjoy his delightfulness" (Sermo 400, 3, 3: PL 40, 708). Denying material food, which nourishes our body, nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by His saving word. Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.

At the same time, fasting is an aid to open our eyes to the situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live. In his First Letter, Saint John admonishes: "If anyone has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need, yet shuts up his bowels of compassion from him - how does the love of God abide in him?" (3,17). Voluntary fasting enables us to grow in the spirit of the Good Samaritan, who bends low and goes to the help of his suffering brother (cf. Encyclical Deus caritas est, 15). By freely embracing an act of self-denial for the sake of another, we make a statement that our brother or sister in need is not a stranger. It is precisely to keep alive this welcoming and attentive attitude towards our brothers and sisters that I encourage the parishes and every other community to intensify in Lent the custom of private and communal fasts, joined to the reading of the Word of God, prayer and almsgiving. From the beginning, this has been the hallmark of the Christian community, in which special collections were taken up (cf. 2 Cor 8-9; Rm 15, 25-27), the faithful being invited to give to the poor what had been set aside from their fast (Didascalia Ap., V, 20,18). This practice needs to be rediscovered and encouraged again in our day, especially during the liturgical season of Lent.

From what I have said thus far, it seems abundantly clear that fasting represents an important ascetical practice, a spiritual arm to do battle against every possible disordered attachment to ourselves. Freely chosen detachment from the pleasure of food and other material goods helps the disciple of Christ to control the appetites of nature, weakened by original sin, whose negative effects impact the entire human person. Quite opportunely, an ancient hymn of the Lenten liturgy exhorts: "Utamur ergo parcius, / verbis cibis et potibus, / somno, iocis et arctius / perstemus in custodia - Let us use sparingly words, food and drink, sleep and amusements. May we be more alert in the custody of our senses." Dear brothers and sisters, it is good to see how the ultimate goal of fasting is to help each one of us, as the Servant of God Pope John Paul II wrote, to make the complete gift of self to God (cf. Encyclical Veritatis splendor, 21). May every family and Christian community use well this time of Lent, therefore, in order to cast aside all that distracts the spirit and grow in whatever nourishes the soul, moving it to love of God and neighbor. I am thinking especially of a greater commitment to prayer, lectio divina, recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and active participation in the Eucharist, especially the Holy Sunday Mass. With this interior disposition, let us enter the penitential spirit of Lent. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Causa nostrae laetitiae, accompany and support us in the effort to free our heart from slavery to sin, making it evermore a "living tabernacle of God." With these wishes, while assuring every believer and ecclesial community of my prayer for a fruitful Lenten journey, I cordially impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 11 December 2008.
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

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Father Francis Bethel to Visit Wichita

Clear Creek Monastery Monk Will Say Mass at St. Anthony

Father Francis Bethel, OSB, a monk at Clear Creek Monastery in Hulbert, Oklahoma., and the brother of St. Anthony's parishioner Larry Bethel, will be in Wichita the weekend of Feb. 21 and 22 to speak at the Pre-Lenten Conference at the Church of the Magdalen.

Father Bethel will offer the Latin Mass here at St. Anthony's on Sunday, Feb. 22, and will be available after Mass to visit with parishioners and answer questions. He'll also offer a Latin Mass at St. Anthony's on Saturday, Feb. 21, also at 8 a.m.For more information about the Conference call Alan at 320-1360.

Please welcome Father Bethel to Wichita and St. Anthony by attending mass both Saturday and Sunday. Please invite family and friends....now really, how often do you get to meet a monk?!

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Book Review by Jim Spencer

The General Principles of Ceremonies of the Roman Rite for Inferior Ministers

General Principles of Ceremonies of the Roman Rite for Inferior Ministers, Abridged Edition, by Louis J. Tofari, published 2008 by Romanita Press, c/o Louis J. Tofari, 3114 Flora Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64109; website http://www.romanitapress.com/; e-mail info@romanitapress.com. 8.5X5.5” softcover, 84 pages. Price: $10.00; ten or more copies for $7.00 each.

This booklet explains everything you ever wanted to know – and offers countless tidbits you’ve never even wondered about -- concerning the functions of “inferior ministers” in the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Inferior ministries are those roles that laymen may and often do assume, that is, all roles from Master of Ceremonies down to Candle Bearer.

(Nota bene: Neither the chapters nor the appendices are numbered, so I can’t refer to these by number.)

The first Chapter, “Sources and Their Abbreviations,” provides all the information anyone could possibly need to check the accuracy and reliability of this booklet.
The next Chapter, “Romanitas and the General Principles,” explains a few misconceptions about “rubricians.” (Hint: They are called “liturgists” in the Ordinary Form Liturgy.) It also explains that, where disagreements legitimately arise, everyone involved should seek a common sense balance.

The next Chapter, “General Notions,” explains general deportment, how to walk, how to sit, how to process, the various formation patterns (Box, Straight Line, Triangular) for processions.

The next Chapter, “Rules of Precedence,” explains how inferior ministers behave relative to superiors, that is, how to walk with a superior, how to cross to the other side of a superior, when and how to give way to a superior, kneeling and standing with a superior, precedence in sitting, rules of proximity to superiors, and how to turn properly under different circumstances.

The next Chapter, titled “Liturgical Gestures,” explains everything inferior ministers do with their hands: how to fold them; how to make the large Sign of the Cross; how to make the Gospel Cross; how to strike the breast; and handling torches, Books, and Communion Plates.

The next Chapter, “Reverences,” explains how to make the various bows, how to genuflect, and how to make the Solita Oscula (customary kisses).

The next Chapter, “Conditions That Affect Reverences,” goes into various special circumstances that can affect the reverences described in the previous chapter. These special circumstances require judicious applications of Ratione Accomodationis (by reason of accommodation) -- in other words, common sense exceptions.

The final Chapter, “Lighting and Extinguishing of Altar Candles,” not surprisingly, explain those two functions.

This is followed by two Appendices, one explaining the privileges of sacred ministers that are not shared by inferior ministers plus a diagram of a typical sanctuary. The other Appendix additional diagrams of various sanctuary features plus the basic patterns for movement of clergy and inferior ministers. Finally, this booklet contains a helpful Glossary of Terms.

In his Preface, the author states that this is an abridged edition of a yet to be published unabridged edition. This abridged edition contains so much detail that I can hardly wait for the unabridged edition, if for no other reason than to find out what Mr. Tofari could have possibly left out of this “unabridged” edition.

Incidentally, Mr. Tofari also publishes a fold-out card of responses for altar boys. This included an explanation of how liturgical Latin is pronounced, plus all the prayers the altar boys say at Mass. These latter are presented both normally and in phonetics to aid in proper pronunciation. These cards sell for $5.00 each, or in orders of ten or more for $2.50 each.

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Copyright, 2009, by James B. Spencer. First Serial Rights

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The Baltimore Catechism

Lesson Twenty Eighth: On Prayer

303. Q. Is there any other means of obtaining God's grace than the Sacraments?

A. There is another means of obtaining God's grace, and it is prayer.

304. Q. What is prayer?

A. Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God to adore Him, to thankHim for His benefits, to ask His forgiveness, and to beg of Him all the graces we need whether for soul or body.

305. Q. Is prayer necessary to salvation?

A. Prayer is necessary to salvation, and without it no one having the use of reason can be saved.

306. Q. At what particular times should we pray?

A. We should pray particularly on Sundays and holydays, every morning and night, in all dangers, temptations, and afflictions.

307. Q. How should we pray?

A. We should pray:

1. With attention;

2. With a sense of our own helplessness and dependence upon God;

3. With a great desire for the graces we beg of God;

4. With trust in God's goodness;

5. With perseverance.

308. Q. Which are the prayers most recommended to Us?

A. The prayers most recommended to us are the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Apostles' Creed, the Confiteor, and the Acts of Faith, Hope, Love, and Contrition.

309. Q. Are prayers said with distractions of any avail?

A. Prayers said with willful distractions are of no avail.