Historic St. Anthony Catholic Church
258 Ohio, Wichita, Ks
2nd St. & Ohio
Two blocks east of Old Town
Sunday Mass at 1:oo
English/Latin missals provided. Join us for coffee and donuts after mass downstairs in the St. Clair/Sunshine room, south exterior basement entrance.
Pastor of St. Anthony Parish: Fr. Ben Nguyen
EFLR Celebrants: Fr. John Jirak, Fr Nicholas Voelker
Master of Ceremonies: Tony Strunk
Choir Director: Bernie Dette


Continuing News

+To submit an article or if you have comments contact me, Mark, at bumpy187@gmail.com.

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Did You Know

Mass Propers, the readings that change everyday, can be found in the red missalettes at the entrance of church?

Fr. Nicholas Voelker celebrates Low Mass Saturdays at 8:00 a.m., St. Mary's Catholic Church, 106 East 8th street, Newton. There is no mass this Saturday, January 30, 2016.


Thursday, November 5, 2009

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

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
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.


Musica Sacra maintains the Liber in its traditional organization:

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.


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Vietnamese Bishop Condemns the Conversion
of Catholic Monastery into a Public Square
VietCatholic News
(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

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.



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