Post #104

Topics: Wanna Really Learn Latin?: Review by Jim Spencer...Pray: The Divine Praises...Latin Mass Appeal: The NY Times...Straight from Heaven's Jukebox (God's iPod?): Veni Veni Emmanuel...Latin Mass Society: To Jesus Through Mary...The Baltimore Catechism: The Sacramentals...Blast from the Past: Holy Card of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini

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__Don't you just love the bell ringing before mass calling everyone to worship? I absolutely love it...it reminds me of my childhood.... approaching the church; Dad in suit, Mom in her white gloves, my stupid brother acting....well stupid!

__The joyous anticipation of our Lord's birth is upon us as we celebrated the 1st Sunday of Advent. His Excellency the Most Reverend Bishop Gerber celebrated mass today with Father Weldon in choir while Fr Lies was away.

It is always so good to see Bishop Gerber. Bishop Gerber was the priest at my very first Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite) back in 2004 and heard my confession beforehand.

__This week, Mr. James (Jim) Spencer is back with a look at a three-page review in the current issue of Una Voce America Nota of an on-line Latin course, offered by Carmenta Online Latin Classroom, founded and operated by Andrew Kuhry-Haeuser. This is an interactive program for the serious Latin enthusiast. Thank you Mr. Spencer.

__I need you. Yes you. Not in the way that I can't live without you and I cry every time we part. I am in need of a volunteer to place the daily Sunday propers into the red missalettes and then remove them after mass. You see I have bit off more than I can chew at mass and don't have time to do this small task. It took more than a year to gather, construct and proof read these propers and it is a shame that they are not being used by the congregation (those without missals). Mr Larry Bethel helped proof the propers and shouldered most of the cost of printing, which was not a small amount and though he would not want to be recognized for his contribution (oops!...sorry Larry!) I have to applaud his generosity.

SO, it is a shame that we are not making use of these propers. Can you help? Would you be willing to volunteer? Please email me at bumpy187@gmail.com

...and now the Necessaries

Please note: St. Anthony Catholic Church is the only local church celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass (EFLR) in the Wichita area. Though this blog is loosely centered around this parish and it's members, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of, or for, St. Anthony Parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est is strictly a private layman's endeavor.

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Wanna Really Learn Latin?

by Jim Spencer

The current issue of Una Voce America Nota carries a three-page review of a very attractive on-line Latin course, offered by Carmenta Online Latin Classroom, founded and operated by Andrew Kuhry-Haeuser. This is truly an interactive program, for students can not only communicate through their keyboards but also they can see and converse with one another (and with the teacher, of course) through quite advanced technology.

The program is divided into eight semesters, with three semesters per year. The first four semesters cover basic ecclesiastical Latin, using as a textbook, John F. Collins’ Primer in Ecclesiastical Latin. The last four semesters continue the study of ecclesiastical Latin and adds some classical Latin, too, using as a textbook, Hans Orberg’s Lingua Latina, a book written entirely in Latin!

The student who successfully completes all eight semesters will be completely fluent in Latin. Thus he will be able to read, write, speak, and understand this most beautiful and beneficial language.

This is a serious educational program for seriously interested students, not an overview seminar for casually interested non-students. It has regularly scheduled on-line class periods, homework assignments, and tests.

It also has a serious price: $400 per semester, which makes the compete eight-semester course cost $3,200.

For more information on this course, go to www.Carmentalatin.com.

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The Divine Praises

Blessed be God.

Blessed be His Holy Name.

Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man.

Blessed be the name of Jesus.

Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.

Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the paraclete.

Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.

Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.

Blessed be her glorious Assumption.

Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.

Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.

Blessed be God in His angels and in His Saints.

May the heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time.

Amen.

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Latin Mass Appeal

The New York Times

November 29, 2009

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/opinion/29wolfe.html?_r=2&emc=eta1

By KENNETH J. WOLFE

Washington

WALKING into church 40 years ago on this first Sunday of Advent, many Roman Catholics might have wondered where they were. The priest not only spoke English rather than Latin, but he faced the congregation instead of the tabernacle; laymen took on duties previously reserved for priests; folk music filled the air. The great changes of Vatican II had hit home.

All this was a radical break from the traditional Latin Mass, codified in the 16th century at the Council of Trent. For centuries, that Mass served as a structured sacrifice with directives, called “rubrics,” that were not optional. This is how it is done, said the book. As recently as 1947, Pope Pius XII had issued an encyclical on liturgy that scoffed at modernization; he said that the idea of changes to the traditional Latin Mass “pained” him “grievously.”

Paradoxically, however, it was Pius himself who was largely responsible for the momentous changes of 1969. It was he who appointed the chief architect of the new Mass, Annibale Bugnini, to the Vatican’s liturgical commission in 1948.

Bugnini was born in 1912 and ordained a Vincentian priest in 1936. Though Bugnini had barely a decade of parish work, Pius XII made him secretary to the Commission for Liturgical Reform. In the 1950s, Bugnini led a major revision of the liturgies of Holy Week. As a result, on Good Friday of 1955, congregations for the first time joined the priest in reciting the Pater Noster, and the priest faced the congregation for some of the liturgy.

The next pope, John XXIII, named Bugnini secretary to the Preparatory Commission for the Liturgy of Vatican II, in which position he worked with Catholic clergymen and, surprisingly, some Protestant ministers on liturgical reforms. In 1962 he wrote what would eventually become the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, the document that gave the form of the new Mass.

Many of Bugnini’s reforms were aimed at appeasing non-Catholics, and changes emulating Protestant services were made, including placing altars to face the people instead of a sacrifice toward the liturgical east. As he put it, “We must strip from our ... Catholic liturgy everything which can be the shadow of a stumbling block for our separated brethren, that is, for the Protestants.” (Paradoxically, the Anglicans who will join the Catholic Church as a result of the current pope’s outreach will use a liturgy that often features the priest facing in the same direction as the congregation.)

How was Bugnini able to make such sweeping changes? In part because none of the popes he served were liturgists. Bugnini changed so many things that John’s successor, Paul VI, sometimes did not know the latest directives. The pope once questioned the vestments set out for him by his staff, saying they were the wrong color, only to be told he had eliminated the week-long celebration of Pentecost and could not wear the corresponding red garments for Mass. The pope’s master of ceremonies then witnessed Paul VI break down in tears.

Bugnini fell from grace in the 1970s. Rumors spread in the Italian press that he was a Freemason, which if true would have merited excommunication. The Vatican never denied the claims, and in 1976 Bugnini, by then an archbishop, was exiled to a ceremonial post in Iran. He died, largely forgotten, in 1982.

But his legacy lived on. Pope John Paul II continued the liberalizations of Mass, allowing females to serve in place of altar boys and to permit unordained men and women to distribute communion in the hands of standing recipients. Even conservative organizations like Opus Dei adopted the liberal liturgical reforms.

But Bugnini may have finally met his match in Benedict XVI, a noted liturgist himself who is no fan of the past 40 years of change. Chanting Latin, wearing antique vestments and distributing communion only on the tongues (rather than into the hands) of kneeling Catholics, Benedict has slowly reversed the innovations of his predecessors. And the Latin Mass is back, at least on a limited basis, in places like Arlington, Va., where one in five parishes offer the old liturgy.

Benedict understands that his younger priests and seminarians — most born after Vatican II — are helping lead a counterrevolution. They value the beauty of the solemn high Mass and its accompanying chant, incense and ceremony. Priests in cassocks and sisters in habits are again common; traditionalist societies like the Institute of Christ the King are expanding.

At the beginning of this decade, Benedict (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) wrote: “The turning of the priest toward the people has turned the community into a self-enclosed circle. In its outward form, it no longer opens out on what lies ahead and above, but is closed in on itself.” He was right: 40 years of the new Mass have brought chaos and banality into the most visible and outward sign of the church. Benedict XVI wants a return to order and meaning. So, it seems, does the next generation of Catholics.

Kenneth J. Wolfe writes frequently for traditionalist Roman Catholic publications.

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Veni Veni Emmanuel

Straight from Heaven's Jukebox (God's iPod?)

Veni Veni Emmanuel is perhaps one of my favorite things about this time of year. Whenever i have time to sit and listen to it I almost go to tears.

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“To Jesus Through Mary”

Taken from the Latin Mass Society's May 2004 Newsletter

When offering the traditional Mass for those who may be assisting for the first time, Fr Hugh Thwaites SJ distributes a short text which explains what the old rite expects of the laity.

The text is a powerful meditation on the redemptive work of Our Lord and Our Lady and is fitting reading for all who wish to unite themselves with ‘the Passion of the Christ’. For some of you, this may be the first time you have come to a Mass in the old Latin rite, and you may be wondering what you are meant to do. You may be wishing you could at least come up to the sanctuary with the offertory procession, if not give one of the readings or even help with Holy Communion.
But you are not going to be allowed to do anything. You have just got to sit there. Or maybe kneel or stand. But you cannot do anything.
However, I will try to show you that there is indeed something you can do, something indeed you are meant to do, and something which will make you very like Our Lady on Calvary.
On Calvary she also must have felt frustrated.
She would have given anything to have been allowed to
brush the flies from her Son’s face.
Or moisten his lips with a damp sponge.
Or even kiss his feet.But the soldiers were there on crowd control duty.
Their job was to keep people away from the men on the crosses.And so our Blessed Lady could only stand there in silence.
And she prayed.
She and her Divine Son were the only ones
who knew what was actually happening.She knew that He was the world’s Redeemer.
She knew that He was offering a Sacrifice,
the Sacrifice.
He was offering the Sacrifice
that would once more open to us
the gates of Heaven.
Being God as well as Man,
the price He was paying for our salvation
was of infinite worth.
Though our sins are great and innumerable,
they must always be
quite outweighed by this
ransom of infinite worth.
So she joined with Him
in offering this sacrifice to the Father.
And loving Him as she did,
she united her own suffering heart
to His divine Heart.
She offered herself in union with Him,
immolating her heart on the altar of her love.
So in this Mass, try to be like Our Lady on Calvary.
Our Lord told us that we have all to be
like little children if we wish to have
the right approach to salvation.
And little children look to their mother to learn what to do.
In this Mass, look at Our Lady,
and try to do what she did on Calvary.
Offer Jesus to the Father, as she is doing.
And offer yourself in union with Him.Words are not needed.
You do not need to do anything, outwardly.
But inwardly you need to do much.

You need to be “actively engaged”, as Vatican II says,
trying to be like Mary on Calvary,
your heart filled with love,
offering the Divine Victim on the altar to the Father,
and offering yourself to God in union with Him.

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The Baltimore Catechism
Lesson 27: The Sacramentals

292. Q. What is a sacramental?
A. A sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of the heart to remit venial sin.
293. Q. What is the difference between the Sacraments and the sacramentals?
A. The difference between the Sacraments and the sacramentals is:
1. The Sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ and the sacramentals were instituted by the Church;
2. The Sacraments give grace of themselves when we place no obstacle in the way; the sacramentals excite in us pious dispositions, by means of which we may obtain grace.
294. Q. Which is the chief sacramental used in the Church?
A. The chief sacramental used in the Church is the sign of the Cross.
295. Q. How do we make the sign of the Cross?
A. We make the sign of the Cross by putting the right hand to the forehead, then on the breast, and then to the left and right shoulders, saying, In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
296. Q. Why do we make the sign of the Cross?
A. We make the sign of the Cross to show that we are Christians and to profess our belief in the chief mysteries of our religion.
297. Q. How is the sign of the Cross a profession of faith in the chief mysteries of our religion?
A. The sign of the Cross is a profession of faith in the chief mysteries of our religion because it expresses the mysteries of the Unity and Trinity of God and of the Incarnation and death of our Lord.
298. Q. How does the sign of the Cross express the mystery of the Unity and Trinity of God?
A. The words, In the name, express the Unity of God; the words that follow, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, express the mystery of the Trinity.
299. Q. How does the sign of the Cross express the mystery of the Incarnation and death of our Lord?
A. The sign of the Cross expresses the mystery of the Incarnation by reminding us that the Son of God, having become man, suffered death on the cross.
300. Q. What other sacramental is in very frequent use?
A. Another sacramental in very frequent use is holy water.
301. Q. What is holy water?
A. Holy water is water blessed by the priest with solemn prayer to beg God's blessing on thosewho use it, and protection from the powers of darkness.
302. Q. Are there other sacramentals besides the sign of the Cross and holy water?
A. Besides the sign of the Cross and holy water there are many other sacramentals, such as blessed candles, ashes, palms, crucifixes, images of the Blessed Virgin and of the saints, rosaries, and scapulars.

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Venite Re Run from some time last year....

Blast from the Past

Holy Card of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini

Image submitted by Stella Gruenbacher

Stella Gruenbacher, a regular reader of Venite Missa Est!, sent this image to be posted. It is a lovely holy card and third class relic of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini. Thank you so much for sharing Stella. Please send your old pictures of first communions, weddings, baptisms, holy cards etc. to share to bumpy187@gmail.com...I'll post them so that we all can share and reminisce.

Post #103

Topics: St Catherine of Alexandria: Statue at St Anthony Church...St. Anthony Parishioner: Meet Bob Walterscheid...Even Demons Believe and Tremble: A Eucharistic Story...How To Market Catholicism?: The New Liturgical Movement... Latin Mass in the Movies: Robert DeNiro Movie Intro...Should We Be Ashamed of the Crusades?: By Jerrilyn Szelle Holladay...Requiescant in Pace: The Reverend Father Dom Francois de Feydeau de Saint-Christophe

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As we find the liturgical calender winding down and the Holidays (both in the religious and the secular) quickly approaching we are filled with urgent, anticipatory feelings and emotions.

Rejoicing in God we are filled with love, joy and, God willing, grace. For some however, even Catholics, the holidays may be filled with dread, nervousness and feelings of loneliness even in extended families. What a perfect time to share our faith with those who are in pain and hurting from loss, spiritually and materially.

In my immediate world view I will pray for the young couple who lost their six week old baby. I will pray for my fellow Knight of Columbus who just lost his mother, the homeless guy I rudely chased away as he sat down next to me in the restaurant (invading my personal space and eliciting a surprisingly nasty response from me), the kid in my Algebra class who wants to be a carpenter, a race car driver or a golfer, and for all who suffer from alcohol and addiction.

Today, Sunday November 22nd, the eight o clock mass intention will be for my deceased mother, Mariana Llamas, born 1923, passed October 16th, 2008. May I ask that you, good readers, remember her name to Our Blessed Mother?

Thank you.

...and now the Necessaries

Please note: St. Anthony Catholic Church is the only local church celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass (EFLR) in the Wichita area. Though this blog is loosely centered around this parish and it's members, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of, or for, St. Anthony Parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est is strictly a private layman's endeavor.

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St Catherine of Alexandria

By Larry Bethel

St Catherine of Alexandria is a compelling saint whose statue is found at St Anthony Church next to the statue of the Blessed Mother on Mary's altar. St Catherine was a virgin martyr who lived in the 4th Century. Although there is no written documentation of her life and death, her popularity continues and was particularly great in the middle ages. During the middle ages there arose a group of Saints known as the Fourteen Holy Helpers whose intercession was thought to be particularly effective against various diseases. In that group of fourteen were three who were particularly esteemed; St. Margaret, St. Barbara and St. Catherine. St. Margaret was known as the patron of a safe birth, St. Barbara was asked for relief of fever and St. Catherine for protection against a sudden death.

St. Catherine is also the patron for young maidens (especially those looking for a worthy husband) and of female students. Regarding her learnedness and martyrdom New Advent has this to say; "Of noble birth and learned in the science, when only eighteen years old, Catherine presented herself to the Emperor Maxentius who was violently persecuting the Christians, upbraided him for his cruelty and endeavoured to prove how iniquitous was the worship of false gods. Astounded at the young girl's audacity, but incompetent to vie with her in point of learning the tyrant detained her in his palace and summoned numerous scholars whom he commanded to use all their skill in specious reasoning that thereby Catherine might be led to apostasize. But she emerged from the debates victorious. Several of her adversaries, conquered by her eloquence, declared themselves Christians and were at once put to death. Furious at being baffled, Maxentius had Catherine scourged and then imprisoned. Meanwhile the empress, eager to see so extraordinary a young woman, went with Porphyry, the head of the troops, to visit her in her dungeon, when they in turn yielded to Catherine's exhortations, believed, were baptized, and immediately won the marytr's crown. Soon afterwards the saint, who far from forsaking her Faith, effected so many conversions, was condemned to die on the wheel, but, at her touch, this instrument of torture was miraculouslydestroyed. The emperor, enraged beyond control, then had her beheaded and angels carried her body to Mt Sinai where later a church and monastery were built in her honour."

St Catherine's feast day is November 25th and is still celebrated in many European countries including Estonia, Germany and France and is also seen as the beginning of winter in the Baltic countries. Here is the collect from her feast day mass;

O God, Who on the top of Mount Sinai didst give the Law to Moses, and didst, by means of Thy holy Angels, wondrously convey thither the body of blessed Catherine, Thy Virgin and Martyr; grant we beseech Thee, that, through her merits and intercession, we may be able to reach that mountain which is Christ: Who with Thee liveth and reigneth.

Icon of Saint Catherine of Alexandria,

with scenes from her martyrdom.

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Venite Misaa Est! rerun from Post #39, 2008

St. Anthony Parishioner

Meet Bob Walterscheid

Every Sunday morning around 7:20, when the birds are barely flittering and eyes are still bleary, Bob Walterscheid strolls into church. Most everyone knows Bob, he is the kindly gentleman handing out missalettes for Latin Mass. St. Anthony, the building proper, has known Bob, his parents and his grandparents since 1904….you see Bob’s grandfather help build the church!

Mr. Robert (Bob) Walterscheid was born in Wellington in 1933 and has fond memories of St. Anthony as a child. One of Bob’s earliest memories: “ is walking from the 6th block on Mathewson to St. Anthony school and attending Mass every morning of the school year. (I) lost my book and remember crying in the pew. Sister Theodosia somehow got it back, as someone found it in the pasture between Washington, and Hydraulic and Central and 3rd street. (where they used to have carnivals, etc.).”

Along with his current duties Bob has served, off and on, with the Parish Council since the late 80's, and was at various times, president. He was also involved with the restoration of the church.

In working life Bob was in film and video production and advertising for 40 years. Prior to that he sold business forms, and before that owned and operated a smoke shop in downtown Wichita.

His interests have included coaching little league baseball (15 or more years) and brewing mead, which is a honey wine made famous by the Vikings. His immediate family includes “A lovely wife of nearly 57 years, 8 grown children, 11 grandchildren, 12 great grand children and 1 great, great on the way. Kids are gone and the dog is dead, we've got it made!”

I asked Bob about the water color paintings depicting the stained glass windows of the church .
“My daughter in law is presently doing water colors of the seven windows in the Church. There are two to go. They are available for sale and once the seven are complete, we will have greeting cards made for sale. They are outstanding pieces of art.” Indeed they are.

Did you know that one of the stained glass windows bears the Walterscheid family name? When facing the altar, it is the second one from the back on the left side. “When a kid, I always thought of the Blessed Mother sliding into home. Now I still can't get that out of my head!” said Bob.

I asked Bob if he prefers the Traditional Latin Mass. “I do prefer the Traditional Latin Mass as I have wonderful memories of serving when I attended St. Anthony School. I feel like I pray the Mass. I love the pageantry and the prayers and the solemnity of the Latin Mass.”

So now we all are acquainted with Mr. Bob Walterscheid. Stop, shake his hand, say hello, share a cup of coffee and I’m sure he has many stories to tell of life in and out of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church.

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Even Demons Believe and Tremble

A Eucharistic Story

By: Msgr. Charles Pope

http://blog.adw.org/2009/11/demons-believe-and-tremble-a-eucharistic-story/

Msgr Pope At St Mary's

It was almost 15 years ago. I was At Old St. Mary’s here in D.C. celebrating Mass in the Latin (Extraordinary Form). It was a solemn high Mass. I don’t suppose I thought it any different than most Sunday’s but something quite amazing was about to happen.

As you may know the ancient Latin Mass is celebrated ”ad orientem” (towards the Liturgical East). Priest and people all face one direction. What this means practically for the celebrant is that the people are behind him. It was time for the consecration. The priest is directed to bow low, his forearms on the altar table the host between his fingers. As directed I said the venerable words of Consecration in a low but distinct voice, Hoc est enim Corpus meum (For this is my Body). The bells rang as I genuflected, but behind me a disturbance of some sort, a shaking or rustling in the front pews behind me to my right. And then a moaning or grumbling. What was that? It did not really sound human, more like the grumbling of a large animal such as a boar or a bear, along with a plaintive moan that did not seem human. I elevated the host and wondered, “What was that?” Then silence. I could not turn to look easily for that is awkward for the celebrant in the ancient Latin Mass. But still I thought, What was that?

But it was time for the consecration of the Chalice. Again, bowing low and pronouncing clearly and distinctly but in a low voice: Hic est enim calix sanguinis mei, novi et æterni testamenti; mysterium fidei; qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur in remissionem pecatorum. Haec quotiescumque feceritis in mei memoriam facietis (for this is the cup of my Blood, of the new and eternal covenant; the mystery of faith; which will for the many be shed unto the remission of sins. When so ever you do this, you do it in my memory). But then, I heard another sound this time an undeniable moan and then a shriek as some one cried out: “Leave me alone Jesus! Why do you torture me!” Suddenly a scuffling as some one ran out with the groaning sound of having been injured. The back doors swung open, then closed. Then silence.

I could not turn to look for I was raising the Chalice high over my head. But I knew in an instance that some poor demon-tormented soul had encountered Christ in the Eucharistic and could not endure his real presence displayed for all to see. And the words of Scripture occurred to me: Even Demons believe and tremble (James 2:19).

But just as James used those words to rebuke the weak faith of his flock I too had to repent. Way was a demon-troubled man more aware of the true presence and astonished by it than me? He was moved in the negative sense to run. Why was I not more moved in a positive and comparable way? What of the other believers in the pews? I don’t doubt that any of us believed intellectually in the true presence. But there is something very different and far more wonderful in being moved to the depth of your soul! It is so easy for us to be sleepy in the presence of the Divine, forgetful of the miraculous and awesome Presence available to us.

But let the record show that one day, almost 15 years ago, it was made quite plain to me that I held in my hands the Lord of Glory, the King of heaven and earth, the just Judge and Ruler of the kings of the earth. Is the Lord truly present in the Eucharist? You’d better beleive it, even demons believe that!

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Traditional Latin Mass in the Movies

I happened to run across this movie on T.V. a few months back True Confessions starring Robert Deniro ("yoo talkin to me?"...whoops different movie). I had never seen this movie and if I remember correctly was not impressed. BUT (and everyone has a big but...), the opening scene was nice.

Anyway, here it is just for kicks....

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How Should Catholics Market Catholicism?

By Jeffery Tucker

From the "Mighty" New Liturgical Movement

http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/

Some thirty years ago, evangelical Christianity threw itself heavily into the business of marketing itself with a series of hip slogans such as "I Found It" (a stranger is supposed to ask what this means, thereby opening an opportunity to share the Gospel). Along the same lines, there was the Good News Bible with a newspaper-theme cover. More recently there has been the WWJD campaign. Dozens of other kitschy campaigns have come and gone.

Part this new sensibility, even a core part, was the cultivation of a specific youth sector within the church. The idea is born of the baby boom: there is some kind of generation gap that makes it difficult for young people to comprehend things in the same way that older people do. Thus must we concoct special sales pitches to show the youth that Christianity is for them. Of course we need youth ministers too (an aging guy who wears jeans) and a host of programs to show off that Christianity is not just for stodgy fuddy-duddies.

This effort almost always means adapting the shape and form of existing secular youth culture -- which itself is a modern invention -- and baptizing it with Christian themes and messages. The rationale is that if we do not create a Christianized copy of the prevailing youth culture, we risk losing the youth entirely.

If the kids are going to attend rock concerts, better that they be Christian rock concerts. If they are going to go to rallies and parties and scream their heads off about crazy stuff, better that they be Christian rallies, parties, and scream fests. Better to get high on Jesus than methamphetamines. That's the rationale.

The "youth retreat" was born at some point in this process, and by "retreat," I don't mean a time of quiet contemplation, spiritual reflection, and careful discernment. The retreat almost always involves the display of a series of would-be teen idols who sing and speak and tell jokes, and eventually get around to presenting an emotional story of their own conversion. These eventually morphed into huge national conventions with massive commercial sectors within them, with teens encouraged by parents to travel hundreds of miles to experience the spiritual high that comes with huge religious gatherings.

The heady mixture of presence of Christian rock-stars, encountered in the context of a thorough mixing of boys and girls on out-of-town trips, can lead to strikingly emotional experiences. Kids return telling of their new-found commitment to religion and also of the intense new friendships they have developed with others on the trip. Parents feel a sense of relief that at least these kids are hanging around with other Christian kids and not fraternizing with the seedy sectors of life.

Catholics were late to this approach to "selling" their faith to the youth but with Mass attendance dramatically down from decades ago, more and more people are getting in on the act. In the digital age, this involves heavy use of film and video shorts that promote bacchanalian scenes of fun, laughter, loud music, and inspiration of some sort or another.

And it does all make difference. The kids return home with a new countenance, and a new love of God and a new love of their neighbor, though the young can be rather confused about how to sort it all out.

They report on their changed lives. And this effect lasts for about six months on average, at least that's my strong impression. In its wake follows some degree of disillusionment, failed romances, and the status quo ante.

In the worst case, the effects of an event like this can actually backfire. By comparison to the massive youth rallies, the home parish seems rather staid and dull. Where are the rock bands, the great speakers, the beautiful boys and girls aching for new relationships, the inspiration that the rally dump on us by the buckets? Clearly there is nothing in my hometown parish that can compare to that.

The eye begins to wander to other sects that can provide or at least attempt to provide that unrelenting stimulation that comes with youth rallies. They do a much better job of it than Catholics. It may not last there either and it might be just as superficial but at least they make a go of it. On this front, the Catholics can't compete. And if the basis of your spirituality is the longing for media stimulation and artificially inflated spiritual highs, Catholicism is going to be marginalized at some point in their quest.

For Catholics, this is a very serious matter. To be Catholic in today's world requires a great deal of social sacrifice. It nearly always has in the modern age. We don't have the right friends in the right circles. Our parishes don't have commercial venders selling lattes and we don't have health clubs. What's more, the Roman Rite doesn't lend itself to the unleashing of loud guitars and would-be rock star improvisations. There are no personality cults in the Roman Rite. The entire structure actually does the opposite. It buries the personality and directs attention toward eternity.

From a marketing angle, I wouldn't think that Catholics are going to fare very well in the long run with these attempts to forge a media-pumped youth culture. It might lead to instant profits for a handful of organizations, but I doubt that it will do much in the long run, simply because the form emphasizes experience over substance. The kids attending them do not return with a serious sense of liturgical decorum, for example. They have no chants they can hum. It is unclear what (or who) precisely they have fallen in love with. They aren't being given the truth about the glorious truth of what we Catholicism has to offer.

And what is that which we have to offer? The Catholic Church offers a sanctuary of beauty in world that can be very ugly. It offers a chance for quiet, for prayer, for intense seriousness, for reflection on topics that the world doesn't want us to think about, topics like death and salvation and sacrifice and spiritual discipline. It offers immense joy but a joy disciplined by rationality and truth. Rather than severe links with the past, Catholicism draws attention to them through the lives of the saints, the music of the first millennium, and an organized and orderly sense of prayer that strives to be a representation of the orderliness of creation.

The contrast is striking. As Benedict XVI puts it, at the culture of the youth rally in which rock music is central, people are "released from themselves by the experience of being part of a crowd and by the emotional shock of rhythm, noise, and special lighting effects. However, in the ecstasy of having all their defenses torn down, the participants sink, as it were, beneath the elemental force of the universe. The music of the Holy Spirit’s sober inebriation seems to have little chance when self has become a prison, the mind is a shackle, and breaking out from both appears as a true promise of redemption that can be tasted at least for a few moments." In contrast, "the encounter with the beautiful can become the wound of the arrow that strikes the heart and in this way opens our eyes, so that later, from this experience, we take the criteria for judgment and can correctly evaluate...."

Benedict further contrasts the spirit of Apollo vs. Dionysis.

"The Church’s Tradition has this in mind when it talks about the sober inebriation caused in us by the Holy Spirit. There is always an ultimate sobriety, a deeper rationality, resisting any decline into irrationality and immoderation. We can see what this means in practice if we look at the history of music. The writings of Plato and Aristotle on music show that the Greek world in their time was faced with a choice between two kinds of worship, two different images of God and man. Now what this choice came down to concretely was a choice between two fundamental types of music. On the one hand, there is the music that Plato ascribes, in line with mythology, to Apollo, the god of light and reason. This is the music that draws senses into spirit and so brings man to wholeness. It does not abolish the senses, but inserts them into the unity of this creature that is man. It elevates the spirit precisely by wedding it to the senses, and it elevates the senses by uniting them with the spirit. Thus this kind of music is an expression of man’s special place in the general structure of being. But then there is the music that Plato ascribes to Marsyas, which we might describe, in terms of cultic history, as “Dionysian”. It drags man into the intoxication of the senses, crushes rationality, and subjects the spirit to the senses. The way Plato (and more moderately, Aristotle) allots instruments and keys to one or other of these two kinds of music is now obsolete and may in many respects surprise us. But the Apollonian/Dionysian alternative runs through the whole history of religion and confronts us again today."

Thus does it pain me to see Catholic youth conferences promote themselves in the Dionysian spirit. It does damage, I believe, to the true spirit of Catholicism. Older people with real and sometimes painful experience with the difficulties of life are offended, and rightly so, by the pitch. I don't see how any serious priest can endorse these videos. Nor are these promotions or conferences really telling the truth about the faith. This is why I don't believe it amounts to much whether these youth conferences are attended by 500 or 20,000 people. The question is whether these people are going to leave with a temporary high or a new appreciation of the profound mysteries of the faith that they can understand with their minds and highest aspirations of their hearts.

Finally, we might ask what it is that leads the organizers of these huge events to believe that they are doing the right thing, and I have no doubt that they are sincere. Fundamentally, the motivation is fear: fear that they will otherwise lose the youth, fear that the doctrinal and aesthetic truths of Catholicism are not sufficiently compelling, fear that the world will beat the faith unless we adopt the worlds' forms, methods, and approaches and adapt the faith to fit them. In other words, for all the hopped-up propaganda, what's really behind this is a lack of faith. And this is a disservice to the youth and to the future of Catholicism.

The true "youth culture" of the Catholic Church is a culture that aspires to the same thing that the "adult culture" and the "children's culture" aspires to: to know the truth and to live it. That requires no marketing gimmickry and mass organizing. It requires a confident presentation of the doctrine, music, prayer, and art that is native to the Catholic faith. This is the best path to inspiring people of any age to live in truth.

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Venite Missa Est! rerun from Post #54, 2008

Should We Be Ashamed of the Crusades?

By Jerrilyn Szelle Holladay

Catholic Online

www.catholic.org

Submitted by Larry Bethel with a special thanks to Jerrilyn Holladay
for allowing us to link to this article.

Jeri Holladay writes from Wichita, Kansas, where she has been Director of Adult Education at the Spiritual Life Center of the Diocese of Wichita, Associate Professor of Theology, Chairman of the Theology Department and founding Director of the Bishop Eugene Gerber Institute of Catholic Studies at Newman University. She teaches moral theology and church history.This is the first in a series she will offer to the readers of Catholic Online.

Using the Crusades as a club to bludgeon the West into guilty silence is a modern practice that has more to do with twentieth century events like the First and Second World Wars and the strains of passivism these engendered, than with the reality of the 12th and 13th centuries.

In fact, the Muslims were proud of the Crusades. After all, they won. And the Europeans? The Crusades were the first stirring of coordinated defense against centuries of attack by Muslim forces. Until the 20th century the Crusades were viewed as honorable wars, by all sides.

So, be ready when someone flips you the Crusades trump card. The historical context is the key to this puzzle, not 20th century sensibilities. The events leading up to and following the Crusades place them where they belong in the flow of history.......follow this link to web article

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Requiescant in Pace

The Reverend Father Dom Francois de Feydeau de Saint-Christophe

November 17, 2009

submitted by Larry Bethel

Bloggers note: Announcement & eulogy for Fr de Feydeau who passed last Sunday, November 14th, Clear Creek Monastery, Oklahoma.

Anno Domini MMIX, die 15 mensis Novembris

Sanctæ Matris Ecclesiæ Sacramentis munitus, pie decessit

in Prioratu Beatæ Mariæ Virginis Clari Rivi

in diœcesi Tulsensi in America septentrionali

REVERENDUS PATER DOMNUS

FRANCISCUS de FEYDEAU DE SAINT-CHRISTOPHE

Presbyter et monachus

Abbatiæ Beatæ Mariæ Virginis Fontis Gombaudi

Congregationis Solesmensis Ordinis Sancti Benedicti,

Ætatis suæ anno LVII, Professionis XXXIII, Sacerdotii XXVII.

Pro cujus anima vestras orationes et sacrificiorum suffragia

de caritate precamur et orabimus pro vestris.

Requiescat in pace.

+

On November 15, 2009,

strengthened by the sacraments of our Holy Mother Church,

Reverend Father Dom

François de FEYDEAU DE SAINT-CHRISTOPHE

A Priest and monk of Our Lady of Fontgombault Abbey,

of the Congregation of Solesmes, of the Order of Saint Benedict,

rendered his soul to God in Our Lady of Clear Creek Priory.

He was in the 57^th year of his age, the 33^rd of his monastic profession,

and the 27^th of his priesthood.

May his soul and those of all the faithful departed, through the

mercy of God and the intercession of Our Lady, rest in peace.

PRIOR ET CONVENTUS

Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek Monastery

5804 W. Monastery Road

HULBERT, OK 74441 - USA

ABBAS ET CONVENTUS

Abbaye Notre-Dame

F - 36220 FONTGOMBAULT

FRANCE

Preached at Fr de Feydeau's requiem by the Prior, Father Anderson - who on Saturday buried his own mother.

+ Requiem Mass
The Reverend Father Dom Francois de Feydeau de Saint-Christophe
November 17, 2009

For unto thy faithful, O Lord, life is changed, not taken away: and the abode of this earthly sojourn being dissolved, an eternal dwelling is prepared in heaven (Preface of the Dead)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ;
My very dear Brother Monks,

The words just quoted from the Preface for the Requiem Mass express the Faith of the Church that shines in the face of the darkest trial that assails the human heart—that is to say the sad reality of death. Rooted in the Most Precious Blood and water that poured forth from the side of the Savior on Calvary, the Faith comes to our aid in this moment of sorrow, reminding us of Christ’s eternal victory over sin, the world and the “enemy death that shall be destroyed last, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet”. (I Cor. 15:26)

Sharing in this same Faith and making it “earn interest” like the good servant of the parable, that great Theologian of the Little Way, Saint Therese of the Child Jesus of Lisieux gives us her particular insight into the reality of bodily death. As she neared her own end at the age of twenty-four this young Doctor of the Church made the boldest of affirmations: “I die not; I enter into life.” When a man or a woman--in particular a religious--comes to that crucial moment of the great passage to the other side of things, the truth comes forth without pretention. Saint Therese affirms her belief in eternal life, not in order simply to comfort us, but rather because it is the truth.

Of course, the Saint of Lisieux did not mean to dismiss the possibility of Hell or Purgatory, but having made her great discovery concerning the Merciful Love of God, to which she consecrated herself as a victim of Divine Mercy, she simply was beyond doubting that the Judge of Heaven and Earth would forgive her every fault if she only remained small--very small--with the trust of a little child. And lest we be tempted to think that it was on her merits as a Carmelite nun that she felt so bold in presenting herself to the just Judge, she affirms categorically that she will appear before Him with “empty hands”, that is to say without the merits any good works to speak of--save her childlike confidence itself.

Saint Therese liked to quote the line from that other great doctor of Carmel, Saint John of the Cross, who said that “on the evening of this life it is on love that we will be judged”. Although she felt quite incapable of performing the feats of asceticism that we so admire in the great Saints, she knew for a fact that there was immense love in her heart—better yet, she knew that her vocation was to be the love in the heart of her mother the Church.

As we prepare to commit the mortal remains of a beloved monk to the earth, to that very earth from which the first man was taken, we do well not to forget the luminous path traced by so many saints—from Our Blessed Father Saint Benedict to Saint Therese of Lisieux--that have illumined the world and transfigured the experience of death. Above all we must not forget what Our Lord said about the need for the grain of wheat to die, in order that it not remain sterile but produce much fruit. If we cannot help feeling the bitter grief of seeing a father and brother stolen away from the visible plane of our existence, we must not act like the pagans of yesterday and today, who live without real love in this world and without hope for the next.

May Our Lady of a Happy Dying, Notre-Dame du Bien Mourir, so venerated at Fontgombault Abbey, our mother-house in France, who manifestly helped our brother through the narrow passage of his last days, obtain for us all to die so well. Thus having followed the path of our monastic spirituality, in imitation of the Ecce, Fiat of the Virgin of Nazareth, may we all come to take our places in the eternal liturgical celebrations of Heaven in the presence of God and of the Lamb. Amen.

-----

Post #102

Topics: St. Bernadette: Incorruptible after 122 Years...Christian Janitor: Died Saving Muslim Students...Oklahoma: New Church, Old Rite....

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It's a short blog this week....busy, busy, busy. oh yeah the St. Clare Sunshine Room Re-dedication and Art Show was fantastic...and so were the crab rangoon.

...and now the Necessaries

Please note: St. Anthony Catholic Church is the only local church celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass (EFLR) in the Wichita area. Though this blog is loosely centered around this parish and it's members, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of, or for, St. Anthony Parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est is strictly a private layman's endeavor.

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St. Bernadette's Body after 122 Years

This is one of the 200+ miracle facts of incorruptible bodies that can only be traced to most of the declared saints of the Roman Catholic Church.

These are the pictures of St.. Bernadette who died 122 years ago in Lourdes , France and was buried; her body was only discovered 30 years ago.

After church officials decided to examine it they discovered her body is still fresh until today and if you ever go to Lourdes , France y

ou can see her in the church in Lourdes. Her body isn't decomposing because during her lifetime, the Mother of Jesus would always appear to her and give messages and advice to all mankind on

the right way to live on this earth. Many miracles have taken place in this place of Lourdes and still do until today.

These pictures show her body after 122 years.

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Christian Janitor Died Saving Muslim Students

By Ivan Watson, CNN

November 11, 2009 5:25 p.m. EST

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/11/11/pakistan.hero/index.html

Islamabad, Paksitan (CNN) -- Life is slowly getting back to normal at the women's campus of Islamabad's International Islamic University.

The young women who study here chatter on the school's well-manicured lawns, their brightly-colored scarves and Pakistani dresses blowing in the wind on a sunny autumn day.

Barely three weeks ago, this quiet place of learning was the scene of a nightmare. On October 20, two suicide bombers launched near simultaneous attacks on both the men's and women's side of the campus.

Afsheen Zafar, 20, is in mourning. Three of her classmates, girls she describes as "shining stars," were killed on that terrible day.

Still, she says the carnage could have been much worse if not for the actions of a lowly janitor, who was also killed. "If he didn't stop the suicide attacker, there could have been great, great destruction," Zafar says.

"He's now a legend to us," says another 20-year-old student named Sumaya Ahsan. "Because he saved our lives, our friends' lives."

The janitor's name was Pervaiz Masih. According to eyewitness accounts, the attacker approached disguised in women's clothing. He shot the guard on duty, and then approached the cafeteria, which was packed with hundreds of female students. Masih intercepted the bomber in the doorway, however, and the bomber self-detonated right outside the crowded hall, spraying many of his explosive vest's arsenal of ball bearings out into the parking lot instead of into the cafeteria.

"The sweeper who was cleaning up here saw someone outside and went towards him," said Nasreen Siddique, a cafeteria worker who was wounded in the head, leg and arm by the blast. "[Masih] told him that he could not come inside because there were girls inside. And then they started arguing. And then we heard a loud blast and all the glass broke."

"Between 300 to 400 girls were sitting in there," said Professor Fateh Muhammad Malik, the rector of the university. "[Pervez Masih] rose above the barriers of caste, creed and sectarian terrorism. Despite being a Christian, he sacrificed his life to save the Muslim girls."

Masih was a member of Pakistan's Christian minority, traditionally one of the poorest communities in the country. When the attacker struck, Masih had been on the job for less than a week, earning barely $60 a month.

As a Christian ... he stood in front of the Taliban to protect the university.

Masih lived with seven other family members, in a single room in a crowded apartment house in the city of Rawalpindi. Until the attack his mother, 70-year old Kurshaid Siddique, worked as a cleaning lady at a nearby house to help make ends meet. Now, she makes a daily pilgrimage to the cemetery where Masih is buried.

Siddique is inconsolable. Asked if she was proud that some people were calling her son a hero, Siddique waved a hand in the air dismissively, answering, "My hero is dead now."She pulls out a framed photo of her son, pictured wearing a button down white shirt and a thick mustache. When Masih's three-year-old daughter Diya sees his photo, she reaches for it, saying, "Mama, I want that picture."

From time to time, Diya turns to her mother and repeats one word, "Papa."

The Islamic University offered to give Diya a free education and employ Masih's widow, Shaheen Pervaiz.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani government has promised to award Masih's family 1 million rupees (about $12,000) for his bravery.

"He is a national hero because he saved the life of many girls," said Shahbaz Bhatti, minister of minorities in the Pakistani government. "As a Christian, a person of minority, he stood in front of the Taliban to protect the university."

But the grave of this national hero is a sorry sight. It is located in the poorer, garbage-strewn Christian half of a neighborhood cemetery, less then three feet from a muddy road.

Masih's mother and widow visit every day. One of his sisters crosses herself, then stoops down to pick up an empty pack of cigarettes someone threw onto the little mound of earth.

The family had to borrow money to pay for Masih's funeral and they are now behind on paying the rent. If the government money comes through, Masih's mother would like to decorate her son's grave.

"I would like him to have his name in cement with a nice poetry verse," she says. "And there should be a fence surrounding his grave."

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New Church, Old Rite....

New Church to Revive Ancient Rite

The Edmond Sun

http://www.edmondsun.com/features/local_story_316190953.html

EDMOND, OK.— It has been more than 40 years since the Tridentine rite has been regularly celebrated in a proper parish of the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. Old St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, built in 1891 and destroyed by fire in 1960, is the historic site near which the new Tridentine parish will be built.

Groundbreaking for the unnamed parish was Nov. 2 just east of the foundation of Old St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and Cemetery along Sorghum Mill road between Council and County Line roads.

“The Latin worship of the Church is over 1,500 years old,” said Rev. Howard Remski, pastor of the new parish.

The parish will be a convenient location for the expanding northwest area of Oklahoma City, and the parish welcomes any Catholics who desire to worship in this manner, Remski said.

Olsen-Coffey Architects has designed a beautiful Spanish Mission-style building, Remski said. Thanks to the parish’s motivated builder, Dan Hilgenberg of Clear Creek Creations, Remski expects to be in the new building in time for solemn Easter ceremonies.

The Tridentine Rite

The Tridentine Rite, or the Traditional Mass, is the way in which worship was conducted for hundreds of years before it was updated in the 1960s during the second Vatican Council, Remski said. The Catholic Mass of the Roman Rite was in Latin throughout the world, and any Catholic would be familiar with how the services were conducted.

The music is predominantly Gregorian Chant and also will contain a rich heritage of Sacred Polyphony such as composed by Palestrina and other classical artists.

Remski said the church will attempt to connect the divine with man, and bring the mysteries of the Catholic faith into prayer life and practice. That will be accomplished in part through the use of a sacred language, sacred symbols and rituals to convey divine truths of humanity’s redemption in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, he said.

Remski said he believes the new church will offer people a strong sense of sacredness. Many Americans are used to the mundane and common life, he said.

Post #102

Topics: The Angelus: Sung by the Daughters of Mary...Latin Liturgy Association: Comment from Association President/Online Latin Course...Vietnamese Bishop: Condemns the Conversion of Catholic Monastery into a Public Square...Crusades: Info from Jim Spencer...I'm Spiritual: Not Religious...Sunshine Room Religious Art Show: Three Artists Featured...On the Net: Florida Court Sets Atheist Holy Day...Summorum Pontificum: The Second Anniversary

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All Souls Day mass was celebrated at St. John's in the tiny town of Clonmel, a bump in the road southwest of Wichita on Highway 42 (Low Mass every Monday).

Tony Strunk MC'd the event and a good turnout was had. Father Lies said the traditional prayer (sequence) Dies Irae, "...Righteous Judge, for sin's pollution, grant Thy gift of absolution, Ere that day of retribution...". In his black vestments it was somber and impressive. We all prayed for loved ones passed.

A Eucharistic procession followed. Mr. Strunk's grandsons (fine Catholic boys) and two servers from St. John's manned the beautiful canopy while Father Lies carried the monstrance out to the cemetery.

Outside Father prayed at a charming outside altar as the wonderful morning sun bathed us in holy golden light. The north wind was cool but not unpleasant and after the locals had visited and prayed for those buried there we processed back in to the church.

Just wonderful.

...and now the Necessaries

Please note: St. Anthony Catholic Church is the only local church celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass (EFLR) in the Wichita area. Though this blog is loosely centered around this parish and it's members, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of, or for, St. Anthony Parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est is strictly a private layman's endeavor.

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The Angelus

Sung by the Daughters of Mary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7BbncHyw9E

I absolutely love this version of the Angelus sung by the Daughters of Mary.

The Daughters of Mary Mother of Our Savior is a congregation of traditional Catholic Sisters. The Congregation was founded in the summer of 1984. The motherhouse, St. Joseph's Novitiate, is located in upstate New York.

Please buy their music.

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Latin Liturgy Association

Latin Liturgy Association Newsletter

http://www.latinliturgy.com/

From the President of Latin Liturgy Association

This summer, the USCCB approved some key portions of the revised English translation of the

new (third edition) Roman Missal. To say it has been long in coming is perhaps an

understatement. One can understand the wishes of the bishops to be careful in their actions. On

the other hand, there have also been reports of delays in approval because of disagreements in

the face of mandates to improve the translation, which will be used by the English-speaking

peoples of the world. The translations of the Order of Mass, of Masses for special needs, of ritual

Masses, and Mass for the dead have all been approved along with other components. One

important remaining portion is the Proper of Saints, which is now in “gray book” status, awaiting

possible revision or approval. Votes to approve have carried by substation margins; 180-plus

approving and 30-plus against in a typical ballot. It is encouraging that the process is moving

forward, but when will this task return? There have been at least three major revisions of

vernacular translations of the Roman Missal in a mere 40 years since Vatican II.

In contrast, Latin editions of the Roman Missal have stood in place for centuries. Will updates

and revisions become a new norm? Will each major world language group in the Church need to

maintain a standing committee to deal with proposed revisions? Surely, one would think, the

publishers are happy about having to provide all those new books, but new book production is

expensive, sometimes rivaling the cost of selling fewer copies of books that remain unrevised for

decades. Will Catholics, in their personal reminiscences, recall the words of translations past and

feel unaccustomed toward or even discomfort with translations that change as vernacular

language shifts over decades of use? Most conscientious Catholics will welcome this particular

new translation that restores orthodoxy, authenticity, and beauty. However, will it always be so?

All of these questions bring up the importance of Latin in the liturgical life of the Roman

Church. This heritage is the anchor that informs the intellects and nourishes the souls of

Catholics through generations. It is, as our late LLA President Bob Edgeworth once observed, a

kind of iconostasis for the western rite. That is really a beautiful analogy. In eastern rite

churches, the iconostasis holds the icons in place before the worshipper’s gaze toward the altar.

Latin can hold in place the wonderful expressions of Faith particular to the western rite. If a more authentic English translation is forthcoming, let us pray that it will bring many Catholics closer to that western iconostasis that is our Latin liturgy. A more authentic translation will bring minds closer to our Latin heritage…and even invite them to explore it.

James F. Pauer, President, Latin Liturgy Association, Inc.

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Latin Liturgy Association

Online Resources: Liber, Chant Propers, Beginners’ Latin Course

The Institute of Christ the King has made available on their web site pdf files containing the proper chants for Mass. These chants from the Liber Usualis and Graduale are organized by date for the current liturgical year and may be downloaded. What a convenient way to provide choir and congregation with not just the texts but also the chant notations for each day.

http://www.institute-christ-king.org/latin-mass-resources/sacred-music/

Musica Sacra maintains the Liber in its traditional organization:

http://www.musicasacra.com/pdf/liberusualis.pdf

Also in convenient pdf format for download, the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales continues to offer a quick course in Latin for those interested in the language for Mass and without any experience of it. Here is the site’s description of the course: Simplicissimus (Latin for ‘very easy’) is a unique, user-friendly Latin Course based on a Teach Yourself method guaranteed to give maximum results with the minimum of effort. Its aim is to give priests a working knowledge of the Latin of the traditional Roman Missal so as to enable them to celebrate Holy Mass in the old rite with understanding and devotion. The Course is specially designed for the absolute beginner; no need whatever to have had any formal classical background or previous knowledge of Latin. It can even be used by those who consider themselves

without any particular aptitude at all for learning languages.

http://www.latin-mass-society.org/simplicissimus/index.htm

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Vietnamese Bishop Condemns the Conversion

of Catholic Monastery into a Public Square

VietCatholic News

http://vietcatholic.net/News/Englishdefault.htm

(31 Oct 2009 04:13)

Blogger's note: St Anthony parish, Wichita, has many Vietnamese parishioners which is why this story is pertinent to this blog. Please pray for our fellow Catholics in this troubled part of our world.

Despite the ongoing dispute between the Church and the government on the ownership of a monastery, local authorities have started demolishing it to build a public square. Local bishop condemns the aggressive action.

In a October 28 letter to the priests, religious, and lay people in his diocese, Bishop Thomas Nguyen Van Tan of Vinh Long strongly condemned the commence of a project to convert the monastery of the Congregation of St Paul of Chartres in Vinh Long diocese into a public square.

Citing the state-run Vinh Long Newspaper on Oct. 25, the prelate told his faithful that the local government had aggressively started the project disregarding the ongoing protest of the diocese and the Congregation of St Paul of Chartres. Local authorities had apparently not informed him of the decision. He only learned about the fate of the monastery from reading the newspaper.

For the prelate, the incident highlighted the ongoing injustice that his diocese has been suffering since the event on Sept. 7, 1977 the day he called “disastrous day for the Diocese of Vinh Long” when the local authorities mobilized its armed forces to blockade and raid the Cathedral, the Major Seminary and the Holy Cross College of Vinh Long diocese altogether. Authorities arrested all who were in charge of the institutions, even Bishop Nguyen Van Tan himself was among those arrested.

Since then, “all [clergy in charge of the institutions] had to move out of these premises”, the prelate continued. “Few were imprisoned. Others were transferred to other places” as local authorities falsely denounced them of “training youth to be an anti-revolution force to oppose the liberation of the country”.

Following a demagogic policy, the Vietnam government keeps telling religious leaders that it would grant land-use rights should they ask for. "But how can they grant us any favors as long as they still consider us as ‘criminals’?” the prelate asked.

Vietnam follows the Communist system of land ownership. All land belongs to the people and is managed by the State on behalf of the people.

The bishop said the action was “so embittering” for the sisters, himself, and all Catholics. “It’s so sorrowful to see a place for worshipping God, for praying to Him, for spiritual training, and for providing charity services being converted into a place for entertainment,” he said.

As the Month for the Holy Souls is approaching, the prelate told his faithful that he also felt embittered seeing the Catholic cemetery of the diocese had been illegally seized and demolished for a public park.

During the Month for the Holy Souls, Bishop Thomas Nguyen asked his faithful to pray more intensively for holy souls and also for the end of injustices that the diocese has been subjected to.

Emily Nguyen

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Crusades

By Jim Spencer

I'm now beginning to read The Crusaders, by Regine Pernoud. In the first chapter she presents two facts of which I was unaware. Perhaps you already know these things, but in case you don't, I'll pass them along:

1.) The term "Crusader" comes from the Latin word, crux, crucis, which means "cross."

The derivation is thus: When Pope Urban II called the first Crusade at the Council of Clermont in 1095, he asked that people of all stations "take up the cross" to drive the Turks from Christian territories. Those who answered his call sewed little cloth crosses on the shoulders of their garments to signify that they had taken a vow to answer the Pope's call. Not surprisingly, those who had these little crosses sewed onto their garments became known as "Crusaders," and eventually their venture against the Turks became known as a "Crusade."

2.) Pope Urban II, in calling for the first Crusade, granted the first indulgence ever offered. An indulgence, of course, is the application of the sufferings of our Lord and the excess sufferings of the saints to remove the temporal punishment associated with forgiven sins. He offered a plenary indulgence (removal of all temporal punishment associated with forgiven sins) to each crusader. Today, a person can gain that same plenary indulgence by saying a group rosary (and fulfilling the "usual conditions.") Clearly, we have it a lot better than the Crusaders.

addendum: Incidentally, one often forgotten "usual condition" for gaining any indulgence is that you must have at least the general intention of gaining indulgences. That's why so many people tack this line to the end of the daily morning offering:"I intend to gain all the indulgences attached to the prayers I shall say and the good works I shall perform this day." If you could slip that in somehow, you might indirectly get a lot of souls out of purgatory, souls that otherwise would have to keep on suffering.

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I'm Spiritual, Not Religious

Author Unkown

Just as you have, I have been in a conversation with someone and the topic has turned to religion, or something bordering on religion.

And so, probably like you, I have heard someone say, quite earnestly, "I am spiritual, but not religious."

The next time this happens to you, ask, quite earnestly, the following question: "I have heard others say that but really do not understand what that means. Is that like being in shape but not athletic, OR athletic, but not in shape?

Whatever the reply (whenever it comes), there will be a pause in the conversation before you get your answer.

The whole upshot of the Spiritual, But Not Religious yarn is that most people who are Religious are Not Spiritual. (The corollary is that there are no hypocrites among the Spiritual--or not nearly as many as those that practice a religion). But I have never met anyone who was truly religious who was not also truly spiritual. And I have yet to meet anyone who is truly spiritual who is not also religious as well.

Only in modernity could one say with a straight face that he is "spiritual but not religious." To a modern mind this somehow makes sense. Yet, it is as silly as telling your grandmother, "I am evil, but not mean."

Imagine the look on her face, if you told her such a thing. Hopefully for you, her responsive look would have been mean but not evil.

All rules have exceptions, I guess.

Does that make me honest, but not truthful? Or truthful but not honest?

See where it all leads?

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Sunshine Room Religious Art Show

Raphael Robles

Bloggers note: At the upcoming Sunshine Room Grand Reopening and Dedication, Religious Art Show, Raphael Robles is one of the featured artists.

Raphael Robles Raphael is from Lima, Peru. His father is a Master Artist who owns and operates a large painting studio in Lima responsible for maintaining many Roman Catholic Churches, and

private chapels throughout Peru. Raphael began work in the studio at a young age learning to restore canvas and sculptures. He also learned and became proficient in centuries old decorative painting techniques that are used throughout the world in the adornment of Churches, Grand Halls, Historical Preservation Projects, & the like. His personal painting style could be categorized as 'Colonial'. His subject matter is always Religious or Sacred, with a special affection for the painting of angels & the Blessed Virgin. His love for Jesus and the Church are apparent in the truth and beauty brought forth in his magnificent paintings.

He was educated in the private Colleges of Domingo Sabio and The Immaculate in his native Peru, and studied art at the Lima School of Fine Arts. He is a graduate of The Ornamental Painting & Design program at Wichita State, under the direction of Diane Thomas Lincoln. He came to Wichita 10 years ago to be with his brothers who were living and working in Wichita, and to further his English education. His Church restorative projects in Kansas include: St Mary Catholic Church- Ellis, KS, St Anthony of Padua-Wichita, KS, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton-Salina, KS, St Joseph Catholic Church-Wichita, along with painting a wealth of statuary for countless Churches in the State of KS.

He is currently working under the banner Studio Robles in partnership with his father. He is very excited about working with his dad, and you are welcome to inquire as to what services they offer consumers, both private & commercial.

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Sunshine Room Religious Art Show
Jennifer Walterscheid

Bloggers note: At the upcoming Sunshine Room Grand Reopening and Dedication, Religious Art Show, Jennnifer Walterscheid is one of the featured artists. St. Anthony parishioners will know her work from the beautiful watercolor paintings she made of the stain glass windows at St. Anthony though she is not limited to watercolor.

Artist's Statement

"Religious imagery in the Christian church has always had an influence in my life. Over time, I have become more inspired by the symbolism and the history of Christian art.

Most often, my art reflects a personal connection I have made with historical sacred Christian images. One of my childhood memories is of being in church and watching the play of light and

color from the stained glass of the windows. This fascination with stained glass resurfaced when I used watercolor to paint the Mary Queen of Heaven window located at St. Anthony dedicated to my husband’s ancestor, Johann Walterscheid. The recreation of this window in using the transparency of watercolor became a captivating project for me, leading to a commission from the church to paint all seven of the large windows in the church. Painting with watercolor allowed me to use the translucent quality of the paint to translate the effect of light flowing through the beautiful glass of the windows into the sacred interior of the church.

Not long after I began the paintings of the windows, I discovered enameling. Like watercolor, the transparency of the enamel over copper and the light flowing through layers of color created a transparent quality in a different media. Enamel and its use in Christian art throughout history became a source of inspiration for many of my enameled pieces. My sense of detail and meticulousness has found harmony with the enamel technique cloisonné."

Jennifer Walterscheid
-2009-

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Sunshine Room Religious Art Show

The Iconography of Lynda Beck From Original Post #80, June 5, 2009
http://venite-missa-est.blogspot.com/

Bloggers note: At the upcoming Sunshine Room Grand Reopening and Dedication, Religious Art Show, Lynda Beck is one of the featured artists. The following article is from Post #80, June 5, 2009.

I recently received a beautiful rough draft copy of a St. Michael icon from Ms. Lynda Beck, local
artist/ icon writer and St. Anthony parishioner. While our email conversation was on a totally

different subject (Pilgrimage USA- Kansas Prairie Tour of Sacred Worship Spaces....I will feature this in a near future post) it was this copy of her icon that really caught my attention.

The icon she sent me (to chase away spam in my email) was a very masculine St. Michael the Archangel defeating the Evil One.

Venite Missa Est! will explore iconography in future posts and, when Ms. Beck has a little more time to participate, we will do a full story on her art, studio and aspirations both personal and for the local art scene. Venite will also, at Ms. Beck's suggestion, feature the sacred art of Jennifer Walterscheid (she did the watercolor renderings of the Church windows) and also Raphael Robles as well as others.

We look forward to exploring this subject and the artist more in depth but for now I present a preview of sorts of the art of Lynda Beck.

Artist Statement

"The word iconography literally means “image writing”. I am attracted to the entire process of
Icon painting which involves elements of theology, aesthetics and of course technique. Though I do maintain an adherence to the rules of the Tradition, residing under the grace of God also affords me the privilege to exercise my artistic license. The ground rules of traditional Icon painting/writing guarantee a spiritual continuity and doctrinal unity that are valid beyond all national and cultural boundaries."
-Lynda Beck
2009

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Florida Court Sets Atheist Holy Day

Passed around the nets...

In Florida, an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter and Passover Holy days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians and Jews and observances of their holy days. The argument was that it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized days.

The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring,"Case dismissed!"

The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying, "Your honor, How can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my client and all other atheists have no such holidays.."

The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, "But you do. Your client, counsel, is woefully ignorant."

The lawyer said, "Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists."

The judge said, "The calendar says April 1st is April Fools Day. Psalm 14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that, if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned."

You gotta love a Judge that knows his scripture!

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The Second Anniversary of Summorum Pontificum

Rorate Caeli

http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2009/11/una-voces-report-upon-second.html

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 05, 2009

Una Voce's report upon the second anniversary of Summorum Pontificum

The Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce recently issued a progress report on the second anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. The full report extends to 95 pages. FIUV's executive president Leo Darroch personally presented a copy of the report to the Holy Father during a meeting in Rome on Wednesday, Oct. 28. (See FIUV's website for a report on and photographs from the meeting.)

Rorate Caeli is pleased to provide excerpts here from a 14-page abridged version of the report prepared by FIUV's executive president Leo Darroch. The report surveys positive developments as well as ongoing challenges and setbacks. One of the more important comments in the abridged report is found on page 7, in the second part of the report:

What is clear from these new reports is that there has been a mixed reception of Summorum Pontificum which includes a serious level of episcopal disapproval in many countries. The good will displayed by many bishops has been offset by concerted and continual attempts by many other bishops to thwart the will of the Holy Father.

Darroch also offers Rorate Caeli the following comment on the growing interest in Catholic Tradition and the traditional liturgy, and on hopeful prospects for Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce:

The interest in the International Federation is growing, particularly in Latin America. We have just admitted new associations from Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Colombia. We have recently had requests for help from Cuba and Honduras. We are even getting requests from young men and women who are looking for traditional seminaries and religious orders.

Excerpts from "Tradition Restored," Part 1 of the abridged report (bolded emphasis added):

. . . During His teaching ministry the absolute concern of our Saviour was for the redemption and the salvation of souls – all souls. And for this purpose he left a legacy of epistles and gospels and a teaching authority under Peter and his successors. In this respect our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI is exercising the teaching authority bequeathed to him by Jesus Christ in ministering to all the souls entrusted to his care.

Perhaps the greatest reason for the current crisis in the Church is that too many people in the Church, particularly in senior positions, no longer accept the authority of the Pope. Where there is dissent, and where personality and self-interest are uppermost, there is decay and lapsation. Where Christ and obedience are to the fore the traditional life of the Church is allowed to flourish unhindered and the spiritual life of the Church flourishes, parish life flourishes, priestly and religious vocations flourish, and the vitality of the faith flourishes. The evidence for this is becoming more clear as each year passes. Those who refuse to recognise this are allowing their own human rationale and agenda to blind them to the undeniable growth that is taking place before their very eyes. They wilfully refuse to see what is becoming incontrovertible.

Since the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum the signs, increasingly, are encouraging; tradition is no longer fighting a losing battle, it has been restored to its rightful place in the Church and is now making quite clear progress. It may not be evident in some places but the positive and confident public statements by an increasing number of senior prelates on the Missal of 1962, on a return to the celebration of Mass ad orientem, and on reception of Holy Communion on the tongue and kneeling are becoming more widespread.

Tradition is the lifeblood of the Church.

The iron grip of Modernism is finally being loosened. It is a movement that has no past and no future. It is of the present, selfish and self-centred, with a blinkered vision that does not extend beyond the minds of its adherents. On the other hand, tradition has a secure foundation, a history, a present, and a future; a continuity. . . . We refuse to loosen our grip and abandon the faith and traditions so dear to our parents and grandparents, our great saints and humble sinners. We are adamant that we will not consign their lives, their faith, their liturgy, their fortitude and sacrifice in times of adversity to the fading memory of history.Tradition is a living thing and cannot be cast aside; it is impossible. Tradition is the lifeblood that flows through the veins of the Church and without it the Church will die. Our faith lives in the vibrancy of tradition as it has lived for 2,000 years and we will not dishonour the memory and steadfastness of our forebears by casting it aside in favour of an experimental modern creation; no matter how many times we are told that the new model is better for us. We would not abandon our family in life and we will not abandon them in death. This is our mentality, our driving force, and we cannot, and will not, change it.

Leadership, patience, and wisdom.

It has been a mark of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI that he is leading, by patience and wisdom, in the example of the Good Shepherd in gathering together a scattered and disenchanted flock. All his actions are guided by one principle: restoration of true Catholic liturgy for the unambiguous worship of Almighty God through the sacrifice on the altar of his Blessed Son. For it is the restoration of true liturgy that will revive the flagging spirits of clergy and faithful and be instrumental in the salvation of souls. By his courageous action in promulgatingSummorum Pontificum, our Holy Father has now generated a debate at all levels in the Church about what was actually authorised by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council. For forty years it has been taboo to discuss any aspect of the liturgical reform as though it were to be seen as a sign of disloyalty to Blessed Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI; as an act of disobedience to the Council, and a desire to turn back the great progress we are told, ad nauseam, supposedly has been made under the revised liturgy. Debate has been ruthlessly stifled and the liturgy has deteriorated as the nebulous ‘spirit’ of Vatican II has permeated every aspect of liturgical life.

It can be said, with some justification, that a desire for a critical examination of the liturgical reform has been driven, in great part, by the laity. Countless millions of the faithful have given their opinion of the liturgical reforms by abandoning the practice of their faith. This fact is incontrovertible. Others, who have refused to abandon their faith, have fought unceasingly for a restoration of the traditions of the Church and an authentic application of the wishes of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council. Since the end of the Second Vatican Council the essential truths of the Catholic faith have been jeopardised in the headlong pursuit of ecumenism; a pursuit, for some, that desired unity at almost any cost. It is the leaders in pursuit of this all-consuming objective that resist any countenance of a restoration of such clearly identifiable ‘Catholic’ Latin liturgy as enshrined in the traditional Mass. Quite clearly, the Latin language, for example, is not ecumenical in the currently accepted understanding of the word but it is truly ecumenical, and universal, in the fact that:

“It gives rise to no jealousies. It does not favour any one nation, but presents itself with equal impartiality to all…” [Bl. Pope John XXIII, Veterum Sapientia, 1962].

In promulgating the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum the Holy Father has done a great service to the Church in the search for truth. In this respect the new publication, Vatican Council II: An Open Discussion, by Monsignor Brunero Gherardini, is a timely contribution to the debate.Monsignor Gherardini concludes his book by asking that the Supreme Pontiff,

“clarify definitively every aspect and contents of the last Council. Such omnia reparare [reparation of everything] could be accomplished through a great papal document, which would go down in history as a sign and witness of the vigilant and responsible exercise of His ministry as the Successor of Peter.”

Videre Petrum.

In recent Episcopal ordinations Pope Benedict XVI said to each candidate:

“The Gospel must penetrate him, the living Word of God must, so to speak, pervade him…. The first characteristic that the Lord requires of the servant is fidelity….He is entrusted with a great good that does not belong to him. The Church is not ‘our Church’, but His Church, God’s Church. The servant must give an account of the way that he has taken care of the goods that have been entrusted to him. ….We know that things in civil society, and often in the Church too, go badly because those upon whom responsibility has been conferred work for themselves and not the community, for the common good.”

To have fidelity to the Lord also requires fidelity to Peter, and things are going badly in the Church because too many bishops refuse fidelity to Christ’s Vicar on earth in favour of temporary self-interest. But to “see Peter” is not a mere tourist, let alone administrative, endeavour. It is all too easy to go to the Pope in audience and be unaware of the tremendous graces attached to physical proximity with the Successor of Peter. That is why the Apostle Paul took great pains to write to the Galatians to assure them that, after three years of contemplative prayers in Arabia, he went to Jerusalem to “see Peter.” Since Paul was the only apostle who did not witness the Resurrection, nor even met Our Lord, it was important for him to prove that he was no less of an apostle. Therefore, he had to establish the moral authority upon which his Pauline doctrine would be based. Sin ce that time Catholics, have always yearned to Videre Petrum.

However, Paul went to “see Peter” for an even more important reason, upon which the first reason rests. The Apostle Paul wished to ensure that his doctrine was in perfect accord with the doctrine taught by Peter, Prince of the Apostles. . . .

Thus, the faithful bishop, or, indeed, any Catholic, will always have the desire to videre Petrum, to “see Peter”, to refine his faith and discern his role in the Church in the light of the faith. We cannot “see Peter”, beneath what is human in his successors, unless we look, listen and speak with the spirit of faith. On an even more concrete level, bishops must approach the audience of the Holy Father in a spirit of love, which will open the soul, attuning it to the wisdom of what one will hear. That is required both before and after the audience, to better ruminate what one has heard. Those many bishops who fail to act in perfect accord with Peter should think very carefully about their leadership under Peter and the adverse affect it is having on their priests and their flocks. Perhaps, at the second anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, and entering the third year at the end of which they have to provide “an account of the way that [they have] taken care of the goods that have been entrusted to [them],” it is an ideal moment to consider their fidelity to Peter and ensure that their teaching is in perfect accord with that of the Vicar of Christ. Therein lies the “interior reconciliation” and “peace and serenity” so desired by our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI in his Letter to Bishops that accompanied his motu proprioSummorum Pontificum.